There goes another great Cordilleran
OF APO Jack Dulnuan, I know there are many others more knowledgeable of him to write about him. In fact, in the BaguioBenguet area, for a person to say he knows Jack Dulnuan, that is not news but for him to say he does not know Jack Dulnuan, that is news. But I presume, Panglakayen Jack will not mind if I cannot help but put in print what those others might miss to say about him now thay he is gone to another mode of existence.
I came to meet Mr. Jack Dulnuan because he was a worker, I came to know him because he loved work. We both came to Benguet because of better opportunity for work, though as to the business side of work, oh, he was far far up there. He did not just work and work, he worked with purposiveness both in substance and style. He clarified to himself what he wanted to attain, then the best ways to attain them, as well as the maximal utilization of these means with the reasonably least cost. He avoided going beyond his means. He demonstrated his strictness in observing this last one when he agreed to help Fr. Conrado and his team in a precious metal operation. He promised a definite amount and goods that he could conveniently afford. After that, succeed or no succeed, he would not go further. He stuck to it no matter the prospect and his personal positive conviction based on past experience attested by people including his spouse.
Parenthetically in the above mentioned operation, it was my first experience to witness a thunder and lightning suddenly taking place in a blue afternoon sky. The thunderbolt initiated the threatening caving in of the underground tunnel which we visited. Following orientation lectures each one of us ran for the knotted rope for us to climb out for dear life. Near the surface we heard our heavy breathings and started forced laughter. The sound I heard was familiar and the leg I chanced to hold on to was that of Jack exiting above me. We lived later as though that incident never took place such was the discipline imposed.
In various encounters and chats that took place between us, including at his spacious vehicle repair shop, he spoke of first meager putting up starting capital, vegetable gardens, piggery, eateries, his mechanized repair shop fitted for highland transport vehicles were a final addition. The most known of his ventures were the Jack’s restaurant in various places at present, including the Metro Manila area. His achievements convinced him that if put at a higher level his ways and successes in the economic field could be a model in the whole CAR region, thus his zest for Cordillera autonomy as enshrined in the Constitution and bolstered by Executive Order 220 signed July 16, 1997 and putting in place the Cordillera Administrative Region where we are politically