Life up north & beyond
NAIMBAG nga aldaw kadatayo amin! Today’s column will be a journal of the significant events/milestones that I got invited to this month of October – among them the filing of Certificates of Candidacies by Team Baguio, and the city’s celebration of Nutrition Month...
Earlier in the month, I was also invited to the firstever LGU Forum held by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) which urged LGUs to borrow funds for their various projects.
I also got to attend last Sunday’s mass at the Baguio City Jail.
But to manage our column length, we will tackle the LBP and Baguio City Jail events – at iba pa – in our next column/s... Abangan!
October 17, 2018 (Wednesday)
Got to join Team Baguio in the filing of Certificates of Candidacies for next year’s local elections!
I joined not only as a journal-ist – but also as a candidate!
We trooped to the Baguio offices of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) at high noon – led by Mayoralty Candidate Antonio "Tony Boy" Tabora (TBT). TBT started his political career as Barangay Captain of Barangay Alfonso Tabora – named after his paternal grandfather who was mayor of Baguio City from 1956 to 1960.
TBT would later become Baguio City’s #1 city councilor among 132 candidates (1988-1989), then vice mayor (1989-1992), and then again city councilor for nine years (2001-2010).
Both his parents and an uncle had also served as Baguio City councilors, while his eldest brother served as OIC Vice Mayor during the term of President Corazon Aquino.
Team Baguio is also led by Congressional Candidate Reinaldo "Peter Rey" Bautista Jr. – former Baguio City councilor and vice mayor & the city’s youngest mayor.
Other Team Baguio members include:
Vice Mayoral Candidate Peter Fianza (incumbent councilor); and
City Council Candidates: In alphabetical order: *Au Alambra (former Presidential Close-In Writer in Malacanang, United Nations public informa- tion officer in Afghanistan and Iraq, PMA civilian instructor & lifetime journalist);
*Fred Bagbagen (lawyer & former 3-term councilor); and
*Robin Coteng (former San Vicente barangay captain).
Thankful to have been involved in this inter-barangay project – donating the three trophies and adding a little prize amount for the winners in the contest for best recycled gowns modelled by the lovely Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) district representative themselves!
The gowns were made of plastic bags, jute sacks, yarn from old sweaters, softdrink bottle tops (tansan), chicken feathers, plastic spoons, fabric from damaged umbrellas, etc.
I wish Sunstar would let me feature some photos, then we could all marvel at the creativity and cooperation of our BNS!
The contest was won by Engineers Hill/Scout District; followed by Asin/Quezon District; and tie between Mines View/Pacdal District and Irisan District. But all entries were beautifully crafted and beautifully paraded by the BNS district representatives – and so all were also given cash prizes by the Baguio City Hall’s Nutrition Office.
For now, I will soon be featuring them in my personal Facebook account (Aurora Verceles Alambra) – or in my soon-to-publish Facebook Page “Aurora Au Alambra – Community Service”...
The BNS have planned on going to a “LakbayAral” in a nearby province in the North, and I heard Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan on the microphone committing to the funding of the educational trip’s transport cost.