“The most meaningful form of leadership is the kind that uplifts the very people who raised you”
There was a time when leaving the province meant progress. The well-worn path from the margins to Metro Manila was considered the golden route to better pay, broader networks, and greater recognition. For many young professionals—especially those from the North like myself—it was almost a rite of passage. You had to leave home to be somebody.
I followed that path. As a civil engineer with a heart for public service, I ventured into the Metro, gained expertise in transportation engineering and development management, joined key networks, and participated in ambitious urban projects through initiatives and programs of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). But the longer I stayed, the more I questioned the kind of development I was contributing to. I realized that the very engine of progress I once admired had its own cracks—and we must be honest in learning from them.
Eventually, I chose to come home and joined the staff of the Provincial Science and Technology Office of Ilocos Norte (DOST Ilocos Norte). An opportunity I had quietly hoped for had finally opened, and it was time to bring my knowledge, values, and leadership home—to serve the communities that shaped me, and to translate science and technology into real solutions for local development. It was not an escape from the Metro’s chaos, but a return for a purpose.
Balik Probinsya: A Homecoming with a Plan
This personal journey mirrors the very intent of the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program (BP2) institutionalized through Executive Order 114 s.2020 — a flagship program of the government that aims to decongest urban centers by encouraging people to return to their home provinces. Launched in 2020, BP2 was designed to offer long-term support to returning residents—such as livelihood packages, housing, education, and job matching—all while strengthening the regional economies to absorb the influx.
At its core, the program addresses a structural imbalance: the decades-long concentration of opportunity, infrastructure, and services in Metro Manila, leaving the provinces underdeveloped. Overpopulation, urban poverty, traffic gridlocks, and informal settlements are just symptoms of a deeper national misalignment. The BP2 program dares to ask a bold question: What if progress didn’t mean leaving home?
But for Balik Probinsya to truly succeed, it must be more than relocation logistics—it must be a cultural shift. Those who come home must come with a mission. We must bring with us the discipline, innovation, and lessons we’ve acquired—and avoid repeating the mistakes we witnessed.
What Not to Bring Back
Metro Manila is a symbol of ambition, but also of unchecked sprawl, misplaced priorities, and short-term wins. Traffic management plans made without human-scale thinking, infrastructure that forgot the pedestrian, and developments that neglected community values—these are not templates we should copy.
We must build smarter, not bigger. Development is not just about highways and high-rises—it is about systems that work, services that reach, and spaces that respect both nature and culture. That is the lesson we must carry home: that progress without values leads to inequality; that planning without people, especially those in the middle income and lower, leads to failure.
The Leveling of the Playing Field
In recent years, standardizations and reforms have created more level ground between the urban and rural areas. Government salary grades now provide comparable compensation whether you’re working in Quezon City or in Vigan. Digital infrastructure allows professionals in Pagudpud or Santiago City to access the same webinars, e-learning platforms, and professional communities once exclusive to Manila-based workers.
Programs like DOST’s Smart and Sustainable Communities, iSTART, and the Balik Scientist Program are paving the way for innovation to thrive beyond the capital. And more importantly, provincial leadership—from Ilocos Norte to South Cotabato—is championing the return of their own people, not just as workers, but as co-creators of the future.
Coming Full Circle: From Learning to Leading
Every benchmarking trip, every innovation fair, every academic pursuit should end with one question: How will this help my people at home? That is the essence of genuine development. Learning is not complete until it has transformed something in your own community.
My passion lies in engineering smarter cities and systems. I’ve seen how solutions are designed in the Metro—but I’ve also seen how they fail when divorced from local realities. In coming home, I do not bring blueprints. I bring insights. I bring humility. I bring the will to listen and co-create.
The Evolving Filipino Ideal
In the past, success was measured by distance from home. The farther you went, the more successful you were presumed to be. Today, that narrative is changing.
More Filipinos now see value in proximity to purpose. There is dignity in staying, and there is honor in returning. Young professionals are slowly realizing that their contribution to nation-building is not tied to location, but to intention.
Our ideals, once shaped by colonial aspirations and cosmopolitan envy, are returning to the basics: family, community, environment, and legacy. We are beginning to embrace that “Kalians first” is not parochialism—it is patriotism.
A Message to the Next Generation
To those who are now on the same path I once walked—those who dream of working in high places and building impressive things—let me say this: go ahead and explore. Learn all you can but always leave room for a return.
You will come to realize, as I did, that the most meaningful form of leadership is the kind that uplifts the very people who raised you. The progress we strive for is not meant for personal gain alone – it is for our kailians, for the generations yet to come, and for the enduring sense of home that binds us to our roots.
The Metro gave me skills. But home gave me purpose. And now, I choose to build where my heart beats stronger.
Brian U. Rasco is currently taking his doctorate in Business Administration at De La Salle University. He is also the Director of the Provincial Science and Technology Office in Ilocos Norte (DOST Ilocos Norte), the operational arm of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in the province that champions science and technology-based solutions for local development. His research interests include transportation engineering, technology development and transfer, lean management, technology business incubation and startup formation. He can be reached at brian_rasco@dlsu.edu.ph.
The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.
