Bulakenyo!

Only a few more days left and as they say it, “uwian na!”. Yup! It is time to go home but before we journey back to our respective hometowns, we got to face first insurmountable mountains of challenges starting off with just the recently concluded round table discussion which was actually a success by the way, then we have to focus for this week’s three-day defense for our policy papers and then the submission for our individual book reviews of Jeffrey Sachs “The End of Poverty”.

But all throughout the running of errands, the hectic schedules and other mundane tasks assigned to us as interns of the House of Representatives, we still had time to do an LGU visit especially in Bulacan where it prides itself for its rich historical heritage. It was such a great adventure having been able to step and feel the breeze of the place where the historic Barasoain Church in Malolos, the birthplace of the First Constitutional Democracy is situated.

At exactly 5:00 in the morning, all interns were already prepped up and giddy to travel en route to Bulacan and so when we arrived by around 8:20 in the morning, we then first hopped to the Plaza and witnessed a program to commemorate the “Linggo ng Bulacan” which is mainly done to celebrate also some of the activities designed for the Youth which they call “Hakbang Para Sa Kabataan”. 

The environment was feisty and everyone was happy. At first we thought there was a fiesta but then when we finally went out from our vans, we realized there was actually a celebration going on for the youth. It was a good timing given that we, as the Youth from Mindanao, are also looking forward to see for ourselves the plans and activities Bulacan has to offer to develop the skills of their young generation.

We were warmly welcomed by the Provincial Hall Staff and a courtesy call from the office of the Provincial Administrator Hon. Jim C. Valerio was done to acknowledge the presence of the Mindanao Congressional Interns. We took lots of pictures and had fun meeting different people from different places. The encounter we had with them and the knowledge they have imparted to the rest of the interns was for us, a gem to be treasured with for the rest of our lives. 

After that, despite the scorching heat of the sun, we head on to Bulacan’s Provincial Cooperative and Economic Development Office (PCEDO) where Ms. Irene Lopez, Mr. Randy Po and Mr. Ronald Santos show-cased to us a short powerpoint presentation regarding the background of Bulacan, how it became a province, the awards it accomplished despite being prone to various national disasters like flooding and earthquakes and they also presented to us their GIS (Geographic Information System) and elucidated 

further how they are able to monitor their constituencies making use of state of the art technologies in order to locate, know the conditions of their communities, the trends, patterns and modelling per se. The SBGIS (Satellite Based Geographic Information System) of Bulacan has helped the province address its societal issues which garnered them awards like having the highest literacy rate in the Country and being a consecutive champion as the Regional Outstanding Winner in Nutrition.

Right after the power point presentations provided to us by the Staff of the Province of Bulacan, we were given a souvenir which to us, the interns, was quite new because this was the only LGU visit where we have been handed with such a memento. The interns were glad to have received this as an advance gift before we head back home. The gift was a courtesy from Bulacan’s Governor, Hon. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado.

Other than roaming around the Provincial Hall and at PCEDO, we also ventured at the infamous Barasoian Church and their Pasalubong Center where we have seen most of their amazing handicrafts and how effective their livelihood projects are to help facilitate and extend a helping hand to some of their not-so-fortunate individuals who hailed from a few of their ill-stricken community. The interns spend time to appreciate the Bulakenyo’s maniobras (masterpieces) such as their hand-woven bags, clutches, garments, as well as the intricate furniture, sweets and other wide selection of elegant native crafts and sumptuous delicacies. Some of the interns bought quite a lot of pasalubongs (gifts) to bring home to their loved ones and brag about how awesome their travel was when they had the opportunity to discover the beauty of Bulacan.

Truly, it was a once in a lifetime experience to actually be there and to learn so much from this tour. Visiting one of the Philippines ideal tourist destination and one of the most progressive provinces was refreshing to all interns given the pressure and stress that we acquired from all the paperworks we need to deal with before we pack our things and go back to Mindanao. For that, in behalf of the Congressional Interns, group four of the RTD, is very elated and grateful for the learning opportunity we have acquired because of the efforts extended to us by the USAID – GEM program, the House of Representatives, the MSU system and UP-NCPAG. God bless you more and a million thanks!