Coming Together to Rebuild Our Beloved Mangaldan

by Djoma de Guzman

The Celebration of Life, MIO's 2009 Mangaldanians Grand Reunion, was rated by participants as a huge success. The event organizers led principally by Silverio "Kuya Boy" Moulic of MANYJER and Marie Aquino-Junio of MAREVA, assisted by Ditas Palisoc-Sarzaba of MAONCA and Rusty Cervas-Miraflor of MAREVA and solidly backed by the tandem of Jun and Joey Tumaneng deserve all the kudos going their way now. Our hats off to you folks!

Just before the reunion, a historic calamity descended on our town Mangaldan as well as many other towns nearby. Massive rains built flood levels never seen before. No home was spared from a gut-wrenching spectacle of damages, physical and spiritual. As pictures and videos trickled in to the pages of Aliguas Mangaldan, one suddenly realizes the astute knowledge of our forebearers to build homes on stilts as protection from flood waters.

Keeping in mind the difficulty that our Kabaleyans were going through, the reunion participants came together in Las Vegas to raise some funds to be sent for the rehabiltation projects in our town. The extent of the damage has so far been quantitied in Pesos. We can only speculate on the dent on the spirit to nurture hopes, to believe that life can be better going forward. How does it feel to abandon your home and bring your family to safer grown, see the waters reach for the ceiling and, when the flood has ebbed, return to gape at what little is left to recover? How did our farmers feel to see crops collapse in the waters, fertile soil dragged away by raging floods, farm animals disappear?

Our Kabaleyans are trying to pick up their lives. For us who have chosen to live a better life in a country of choice, what are we going to do to assist them to to get their lives back on track?

Aliguas Mangaldan will try to connect with our townmates, gather stories about how they are coping and rebuilding lives. We look to publish reports from the municipal government about various rehabilitation projects. It will be left to the different groups of Mangaldanians to use these information in deciding how to come together in rebuilding our beloved town of Mangaldan.

Some of us may opt to work with groups of people in the barangays and focus on building a partnership with them. Some of us may take the easier route of brick-and-mortar projects. And some of us may even go for the longer term project of developing responsible and compassionate leaders from the ranks of today's youth. Whatever route we take, it would be toward a common vision of a vibrant, livable, well managed community of Mangaldan.

Comments

[Fred Martinez]

As stated in my previous posting, I also pledge to donate to the proposed Learning Center/Library in Mangaldan. Aloha/Fred M

[Fred Martinez]

The first pledge comes Dr. Jose "Joey" Abalos of West Virginia. Thank you Joey and much Aloha ... Fred

[Fred Martinez]

Hello Philip,
I agree with you that "the project should not be a dole-out but the project has to be financed and managed by Mangaldanians abroad before turnover to the municipality"; that's how we did with the Learning Center that we built in one of the schools in Pangasinan. The amount was disbursed by the Treasurer only upon receipt of a copy of the itemized expenses and a copy of each receipt from the lumber company or for whatever item purchased for the construction of the building. I really hope that our kabaleyans will come together and start sending their pledges. Dr. Amor said that he will talk with the Mayor for approval when he goes home in February; it would be a great help to support his proposal if he has a list of Mangaldanians with their pledges. I know we have kabaleyans not just in the U.S, Canada, Australia but also in the Middle East, Europe and other parts of the world who read Aliguas Mangaldan (AM)and Mangaldan International (MI)and if they learn about this project, I'm very positive that they will join in the bandwagon. And let's not forget some of our kabaleyans in Mangaldan/Philippines who would be more than willing to participate also in this project.
Thanks and Aloha,
Fred

[Philip Fabia]

Thank you Mr. Martinez for your reply and I have seen your comments too in MI-FORUM. Unfortunately, I cannot reply there as I have deleted my MI account a couple of months ago.

The Library/Learning Center is a very noble project that Mangaldanians abroad could give to the people of Mangaldan. Mangaldan has the MNHS who enrollment is the largest in the region that even students from other municapalities come to our town to study high school there. A fully operational modern library with computers, CDs/DVDs, and reading materials from all varieties of topics, would certainly be welcome to our students, sons and daughters who are our future leaders.I know that this project has been on the "shopping list" of MPDC for quite sometime but as you know, programs and projects in the shopping list are prioritized on urgency, funding availability and doability (short-term or long-term). I propose that if this project materializes, it should not be a dole-out but the project has to be financed and managed by Mangaldanians abroad before turnover to the municipality.

Another worthwhile project is full functioning of the Mangaldan Community Infirmary. This was conceptualized by Ex-Mayor Gubatan and during his terms, we saw the building construction. It temporarily housed the Mangaldan Rural Health Unit-I. Unfortunately, due to technicalities in policies of the national government, despite Gubatan's all-out efforts and support, he never saw its full functioning until his untimely demise. During Ex-Mayor Sarzaba's term, he vowed to finish the project. He constructed the new Mangaldan Rural Unit-I building near the Poblacion Barangay Hall so that when the Infirmary building was vacated he started to really push the project to completion utilizing resources, contacts and support from local/provincial/national personnel and even had the commitment of generous Mangaldanians abroad. When there was hope for the project's fruition, he lost his re-election bid. To this day, this beautiful building is not utilized for its intended purpose and has started to show some decay. I believe one room is used by an NGO for physical therapies of senior citizens.

Mangaldan does not have an infirmary/hospital despite being one of 3 first-class municipalities in the province in 2001. Today, some surrounding municipalities are now first class too. Mapandan, who used to be a barangay of Mangaldan, has a infirmary even before I was in local politics in 1995.

[Fred Martinez]

Hi Philip ... your message is enlightening and inspirational! Please check my thoughts in Mangaldan International under FORUM. regards/Fred Martinez

[Philip Fabia]

It is about time! Aliguas Mangaldan started out on a mission to reconnect Mangaldanians all over the world and to provide that glimpse of their respective well-beings as they celebrate their own lives where ever they may be. By virtue of the successful MIO Global Reunion, it can show a semblance of achievement and pray that it would continue to bind us together as a people.

While we see traces of it, let Aliguas Mangaldan (AM), Mangaldan International (MI) and Mangaldan International Organization (MIO) solidify their claim that they are not just a forum for pageantries, pleasantries and photo-ops, but a vehicle that also carries the care and concern of our people back home. In Mangaldan, I am sure about 10% of our people who belong to the upper echelons of our society are ecstatic and thrilled to know that Mangaldanians abroad are reconnecting with each other as they see their friends and relatives thru these sites. But the ordinary Mangaldanian comprising about 90% of our people are oblivious of these happenings as they are more concerned about the countenance of their daily lives, thriving and surviving the harsh realities of life especially now that the aftermath of typhoons put damages at almost P1Billion in our beloved town alone. Even if they take hold of this information, the question from them will be, “How will it affect my daily life as I struggle to earn for a living every day?”. Relief operations have long been done and it was substantial with the help of a lot of generous people, concerned agencies, groups, companies and TV networks. The greater part of the work is the rehabilitation of programs, reconstruction of infrastructure and the building of new edifices that will serve the general welfare. These would involve tremendous funds from a municipality who barely managed her finances through all these years that started at the onset of her golden age in 1989. And yet, she has risen to all challenges and became one of the most progressive towns in the province today with the sheer cooperation of her officials then and now, and her beloved people.

It is time for Mangaldanians abroad to play a bigger role in the town’s future. What a joy that would be to see a bigger force in fusion and in sync with her leaders and her people. As a former official of the town for 9 years, I have hoped for this then and I hope the reality is dawning upon us. While we cannot lay claim that Mangaldanians abroad are generally well-off, as we also experience the struggles in life, we can always be involved in her future because people back home look to us for guidance, support and almost always a helping hand in times of their need. Let us not just be informed and content with being in the sidelines, but let us be involved in decisions, programs, projects, ideas and concepts. The celebration of life is not about celebrating our lives here abroad, but an even more meaningful celebration of life will be to also celebrate the lives of our people back home in our beloved town of Mangaldan.