Balbalan on my mind

BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon

Balbalan, a scenic and remote town in Kalinga always evokes feelings of shangrila or déjà vu in me whenever I think of its rustic setting and its gentle people. (Like anywhere else, not all people of Kalinga are ferocious or gearing for war all the time as some media persons have portrayed.)

The last time I went to Balbalan was three years ago when I got lucky to be invited to talk during a journalism seminar at the Balbalan Agro-Industrial School.

Despite the heart-stopping travel over the dangerous one-way road from Tabuk City, the journey was worth it. I stayed at the school pampered by a hospitable staff and an amiable security guard who regaled me with stories about the “people from the mountains” (New People’s Army) who would pass every now and then in the town.

I was also treated to a sumptuous dish of pinikpikan (native singed chicken dish popular in the Cordillera) at the house of Fr. David Beleo, a relative from Sagada, Mountain Province and his family. Lest you raise an eyebrow, Fr. Beleo is an Anglican priest. Priests of the Episcopalian Order (Anglican) can marry, so I guess, that explains their jovial demeanor unlike some of their peers whose orders arise from the Vatican. To my RC friends, please don’t skin me alive.
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Anyhow, lest we stray, since I talked earlier about my visit to Balbalan in an earlier column, let us leave it at that and talk about the present.

I got a report from Gigi Dumallig of the Philippine Information Agency based in Tabuk saying finally, after a very long time, electricity from the National Power Corp. reached the municipality.

The last time I was there, it was only the house of Fr. Beleo and some others in the barangay which had electricity courtesy of a solar gadget which he installed and which was good for at least three hours. The next day, the gadget had to harness energy again for the night.

Anyhow, Gigi quoted Balbalan Mayor Kenneth Dale Mangaoang saying power was turned on Feb. 29, two days before the town fiesta.

The power lines cover barangays Poblacion, Balantoy, Maling and Balbalan Proper. Initial energization reportedly started in about 140 households in Poblacion.

According to the mayor, personnel of the Kalinga Apayao Electric Coop. are now checking household lines and connections in the Poblacion to ensure residential lines have specifications to accommodate voltage considering these used to be energized through a generator of the local government.
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Residents here are reportedly pleased and excited for finally they will be getting a 24-hour power service. Wires and posts, according to Mangaoang, will still be installed to reach residential houses in Maling, Balbalan, Proper and Balantoy. As soon as work is finished with all residential lines inspected, power will be switched on in those areas.

With support of the mayor and local legislators, the municipal government reportedly handled all expenses for installation of a three phase system power distribution to ensure voltage would be able to generate power for residential and commercial establishments.

According to the mayor the LGU spent at least P9 million for the installation but this may reach P10 million or more to put in place lines for other three barangays.

Mangaoang said with this historical development, the economic activity in the municipality would speed up potential entrepreneurial endeavors such as handicraft making, small processing industries, livelihood projects and other businesses which require electricity.

Educational institutions, he said, would now be able to provide computers and electronic visual aids to facilitate advanced learning processes so students could be at par with those in urban areas.
With cheaper source of current, the local government is expecting to save fuel expenses. The municipal government is spending an average of P128,000 monthly for the fuel regularly hauled from the Tabuk City.

With electricity, Balbalan could be popularized more as tourism site since local establishments and ventures related to the trade could be enhanced. But then, the road going to the town has to be widened and cemented.

Maybe Rep. Manuel Agyao, Gov. Jocel Baac and other concerned officials could look into this.
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Our congratulations to manang Dr. Ellen Bawing Donato on her appointment as regional director of the Department of Education- Cordillera Administrative Region.

A mass was held at the DepEd regional office in Wangal, La Trinidad, Benguet on Friday with a program welcoming her assumption to office.

When I was a grade school kid in the 60s, I often played in their house adjacent to ours below the Poblacion in Sagada and slept in their basement with her younger brother Fidel.

They had this Passion Fruit, its vines entwined on guava trees which we ate no end in the days of the dayyet, bagbaggon, boknit, gagtin and shatung (wooden tops, pine toy cars which we rode down the Poblacion to Daoangan, stone-throwing wars, kicking duels and a game of sticks respectively ) many summers ago. How time flies.