THE Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) conducted the first leg of its Local Government Unit (LGU) Forum in Baguio City! And was I glad to be invited!
The resumption of my newspaper column was long in the works – and it could be my first newsy topic! And here it is!
But the day-long forum on October 12 tackled so many sub-topics with the spirited participation of the local government officials invited from all of Northern Luzon – and so, for now, let me zoom in on the human interest twist that serendipity brought us:
I informed LBP’s Media Consultant Noel Reyes – a fellow former beat reporter at the Department of Agriculture HQ in Quezon City when I was with the Philippine Star – that I am resuming my Sun Star Baguio column. We enthused that it would be good to ask a mayor to speak to us – direct from the horse’s mouth, so to speak – about his/her town’s particular situation, and how the LBP had been of help to the town – or how it could be of help after the forum...
Mr. Reyes invited/pulled-out a participant to the sidelines to talk to us about his LGU and about LBP assistance that his LGU may have earlier availed of, if any...
And the respectable, bespectacled mayor turned out to be a retired/former regional director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)! And – as we were winding down our interview “kwentuhan” – he somehow recalled one particular day in his life – October 31, 2003 – when, as he was cruising home over the mountains from Tuguegarao (Cagayan) to Bontoc (Mountain Province) via Ifugao, he somehow shot it out with a robber...
The robber had just shot the driver of a van – the robber’s accomplice in an earlier bank robbery – who had complained about his share from their loot... The duo’s victim bank? The Land Bank of the Philippines’ branch in Bontoc!
The mayor of Sadanga, Mountain Province – Mayor Jose Limmayug, Jr. (who is now 70) – said he was very happy to find out that his town could borrow funds from the LBP for its projects!
He enthused that they could now apply for funds to pave roads and, especially, to construct a bridge to connect Sadanga center to the hinterland barangays of Anabel and Betwagan that presently could only be reached by crossing the Chico River!
Sadanga is a 5th class municipality whose Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) for 2018 is around P67 million, according to Mayor Limmayug who revealed that the town is “totally dependent on IRA.” The local population is into farming – growing heirloom rice – “pero, problema, walang mangi-transport.”
By the way, here’s calling on “service providers.” Mayor Limmayug said there is no internet/wifi signal over there in Sadanga town – it needs a “repeater” for online and social media communication...
PERSONAL NOTES:
The Agriculture/Agrarian Reform/Environment triumvirate was one of my news beats – actually my favourite beat – when I was starting out with the NewsCenter of Channel 4 (which was then the Maharlika Broadcasting System or MBS-4), and when I shifted media genre from broadcast to print – first with the (now defunct) Evening STAR, and then with the Philippine Star.
The LBP had figured prominently in our DA/DAR/DENR news beat coverage...
[I wrote for the Star Group of Publications for 16 years – nine years in Metro Manila as Star staff reporter/writer, plus seven years based in Baguio City as Star correspondent for the Cordillera area...]
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“Up North” – the live cable TV talk show..
The LBP’s LGU Forum was held on October 12 – our late Dad’s earth birthday (and we were scheduled to go visit him at the Sto. Tomas Cemetery in La Union province but we had to postpone it so I could attend this LBP LGU Forum)...
On the same day in 1996, on my Dad’s birthday, I had started my live cable TV talk show “Up North with Au Alambra” over NortComm Cable TV – with my Dad and city government officials in attendance – particularly our barangay mates, then Councilor Lilia Yaranon and (former) Judge Braulio Yaranon...
My live cable TV show continued at the renamed Viacomm Cable TV, and then transferred to SkyCable Baguio...
I am now exploring the resumption of my community TV show – tackling community-related topics – this time hopefully broadcast over a wider area...
Inshallah...
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Sunday mass with inmates: Christmas lanterns from recycled materials!
Baguio City Jail
October 20, 2018
My group – the SSpSA – or the Sister Servants of the Holy Spirit Associates – which I officially joined on September 8 – attended mass at the Baguio City Jail on Sunday morning, 20 October.
Upon entering the quadrangle, before entering the mass venue, I immediately noticed Christmas lanterns hanging from the window bars – on display for possible buyers.
Some were intricately made from recycled newspapers and other objects – like green plastic softdrinks containers...
There was also a beautifully crafted snowman that I bought at an unbelievably low price...
[Upon reaching home and seeing how beautiful it stood out against the wall, I told myself to go back there and give the maker an extra amount, or at least buy more of his creations...]
As to the mass, it was celebrated by Fr. Gregorio. The inmates were in yellow – instead of the usual orange...
And the choir that sang beautifully accompanied by some marimba (?) was from the Holy Name Society, making me remember my late father – Mr. Balbino ‘Mars’ Japson Alambra – who was a Holy Namer starting in his ‘binata’ years in Agana, Guam – and who himself had sang beautifully with the Holy Name Society at Saint Vincent Parish, our childhood parish in Baguio City...
For the October 20 mass, the Holy Namers brought a big “kaldero” of brewed coffee – and paper cups – for all the inmates who called their group “family.”
PERSONAL NOTE:
Glad for this opportunity to revisit the Baguio City Jail which I used to visit/cover as a journalist in the mid-80s with the Philippines News Agency (PNA), and then later as Baguio-based Correspondent of the Philippine Star from 1996 to 2003 – when I had to stop so I could concentrate on my teaching as Civilian Instructor at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA)...
I had requested to be based in my home city (Baguio City) following my traumatic hold-up experience with my brother Edward in a bus along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City – while on our way home to our newly bought houses at Palmera Northwinds... The date was November 11 (11/11) in 1995 – but this is another story – and will be another story Up North & Beyond...]