By Rey Espiritu
CITY OF MALOLOS”•Gov. Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado underscored the coming infrastructure developments in Bulacan that will change its landscape during the 439th Founding Anniversary of the province at the Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium here on Wednesday.
“Next year, we will finally see the changes in our province. The framework has been laid out for the MRT 7, the Manila North Railways, coastal roads and flood control projects,” Alvarado said.
“We will finally get to use the water we’ve been fighting for in the Bulacan Bulk Water rights, as well as its technopark, the rehabilitation of Angat Dam, and the [repair of the] rubber check gates of Bustos Dam,” he added.
Bulacan is supplying more than 60 percent of the fish, meat and vegetables consumed in Metro Manila, and was recently awarded as one of the top seven provinces in agriculture, the governor announced.
“If before our heroes were armed not just with bolos and spears but with their bravery and their love for country, now we are armed with everything we need to uplift our lives, and while we are marching to a brighter tomorrow, let us retain our spirit of unity and brotherhood,” Alvarado said.
Jaime Veneracion, a historian and professor at the University of the Philippines, shared the difference between being a resident of Bulacan and being a Bulakenyo.
“We are not from Bulacan just because we know its history, we are Bulakenyos if we show our love for our motherland, and consider ourselves proud Filipinos,” Veneracion said.
Rep. Jose Antonio “Kuya Jonathan” Alvarado, the event’s guest speaker, said there’s no better gift to the province on its birthday but the gift of progress and unity.
“Why don’t we continue our spirit of bayanihan [cooperation]? Why don’t we fill our province with trees, keep our rivers from being filled with trash that causes the cancer that kills our citizens? If we don’t help each other, we are wasting the lives God has given us. Let us always find ways to improve ourselves,” the congressman said.
The lawmaker also shared that Bulacan is the first province in the country that implements free tuition in state colleges like Bulacan State University and Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Pulilan.
“To all Bulakenyos who have witnessed our country’s freedom, to all Bulakenyos who continue to fight for our economic freedoms, to the teachers and partners who keep their children in school, this day is for you,” he added.
Meanwhile, Gawad Singkaban”•an awards program that will recognize the Outstanding Tourist Destination, Agri-Tourism, Hotel and Resort, Restaurant, Travel Agency, Tourism Office, Tour Guide and Most Supportive Media Award on Television in Bulacan”•was launched.
The finalists for the Sineliksik Bulacan Docu Fest 2017, a documentary film competition that depicts the history of each town in the province, was also announced.