Fr. Romeo ‘Archie’ Intengan
FR. Intengan passed away last Sunday after a very fruitful life. Being a physician, he knew he could go anytime since he had an aneurism that could burst anytime. He intended to be a politician and, in a sense, succeeded. He first became a doctor and served as head intern for surgery in PGH during his early years. In the heyday of left- wing activism, he was drawn or sucked in by the crowd. I am told he joined the Communist group but realized that their teachings were on the wrong side of reason. He then joined the Jesuits to dedicate himself to the service of others.
After the long Jesuit period of training he resumed his activism. With Norberto Gonzales, he founded the Philippine Social Democratic Party (Socdem). He actively recruited and funded the party with begging from friends. Soon enough in Marcos’ martial law, he was accused of organizing demonstrations against Marcos. He was accused of organizing protests in1978 against the fraudulent elections of that year. They were both thrown in jail. Released because of some connections, he continued his activism.
They methodically went after him so that he had to escape through the southern route through Muslim friends. I understand he stayed for a while in Cagayan Island in the Sulu Sea. After some months, he managed to move to Malaysia and into Hong Kong where he was a stateless refugee and he managed to get a Vatican passport since he was a priest. He then moved to Madrid to continue his studies in Moral Theology in Universidad de Comillas.
I happened to be in Madrid for work for the Ateneo de Davao University and going through a Spanish Jesuit Catalogue, I noticed a Fr. Durban of the Philippine province. Since at that time I thought I knew every priest from the Philippine province of the society, I was curious and called up the university. They told me he was out. After a short while I got a call from the university and it was Fr. Intengan. I went to visit him. In the university, he showed me his clinic since he was appointed infirmarian for the 30 or so Jesuits teaching in the university. I wondered when did he have time to study for his doctorate. Later I met a Spanish brother who boasted he knew three Filipino Jesuits. And he gave me three names but they were all Fr. Intengan for he had to hide from the long arm reach of the Marcos regime.
Then out of the blue when I was already in Cagayan de Oro and martial law had ended, he was appointed by the Jesuit general to the superior of all the Philippine Jesuits. He was thus our superior for six years whom we had to see once a year. He was always meticulous and he filled a full page every time anybody had to see him. He was always patient and heard each one of us with thorough listening. He was a good superior but kept his iron in politics in the fire. We will miss him even though he was a very quiet man.
Fr. Archie Intengan’s passing away reminds me of some great Jesuits who have been part of the Jesuit Philippine province. There was Fr. Horacio de la Costa a great historian who also died early so that the history books we expected from him were not written. Recently Dipolog celebrated the start of the process for canonization of a 17th century Jesuit who was martyred in Dipolog and the place has been the source of miracles: Fr. Francesco Palliiola. In the 1980’s there were two Jesuits from the Philippines killed in Spain by the Republicanos just because they were priests. The martyr priests of the other orders have already been declared saints. But the Jesuits’ process has yet to start. One of them was Fr. Manuel Peypoch, the beloved teacher of my father and of many Ateneans of that time.