When Kalahi-CIDSS reached the municipality of Gloria, many barangays became hopeful that they would be given the chance to have their sub-projects prioritized, and more importantly, to have their needs addressed. They missed no chances of participating in the said activities of the Kalahi-CIDSS project, from the barangay assemblies down to the trainings conducted.

Efforts did pay off for some ten barangays which got prioritized, but one barangay continues their struggle in claiming their stake on the elementary school building earlier proposed.

Brgy.Captain Eleuterio Roldan of Barangay Bulaklakan shared his experiences on Kalahi-CIDSS. He said that while the project poses challenges to the barangay, it has been a wonderful learning experience for all of them. He admired the project’s objective of involving the people, that it somehow developed their worthiness. He believes that people are part and parcel of the barangay, to which their involvement is essential to the barangay’s success.

He is further encouraged to work more upon having seen the response of the community members towards the Kalahi-CIDSS project. They saw this as an opportunity to have their needs met and likewise to have basic social services like education be provided. Out of the 27 barangays of Gloria, Brgy. Bulaklakan is the only barangay which does not have a school.  The children in the community have to go to nearby barangay to have their education needs met. Hence, when Kalahi-CIDSS came, they wasted no time in pushing for their project to which they worked long hours in preparing the project proposal.

But when everything was going well, they faced a problem regarding the site of the school. Unfortunately, as they were completing the documents for the prioritization, they have not acquired a lot where the school will be built. Without a lot, the school sub-project will not push through.

Mr. Joe Leuterio, a resident of Brgy. Bulaklakan, came to be the knight in shining armor. Having acquired numerous land lots, he gave a portion of his for the school. The vast hectare of land he owned was donated to the barangay for their sub-project.

What made Mr. Leuterio gave his land easily to the barangay? “People in this barangay has low moral value,” said Mr. Leuterio. He said that to address this, a school is greatly needed, one that would foster an environment for learning and also cater the educational needs of the children. More importantly, he feels that it is just proper to have a school in the barangay, to generate employment among those residing in the area.

The 5,000 sq.m of land he donated means less than that of his desire to bring his fellow community members closer to education. Mr. Roldan greatly admires his friend’s generosity and sensitivity to the needs of the barangay. He has nothing but praise to his good friend.

For Brgy. Bulaklakan, all they bid now is time for the approval of pertinent documents needed for the operability of the said school. The construction of the Php1,440,000 elementary school building is yet to begin. While there have been delays in the implementation, the barangay is hopeful that they will have a school come the opening of classes in June.

“Laking pasasalamat namin sa Kalahi-CIDSS dahil magkakaroon na din kami ng eskwelehan dito sa amin. Higit lalo pa sa proseso na natutunan namin sa Kalahi-CIDSS, na tunay na nagbuklod at nagpaigting ng aming samahan dito sa aming barangay,” (We are thankful for Kalahi-CIDSS since we will now have a school here in our barangay. But we are more thankful on the process that we learned from Kalahi-CIDSS, which strengthened our relations in the barangay) said Mr. Roldan. He attests that the barangay local government unit has been more sensitive to the needs of the community which in turn fostered a more transparent and meaningful engagement between the barangay and its people. The Kalahi-CIDSS principles earlier taught to them will be further inculcated in the community processes, marking a definite step in developing the barangay. ###