Showing posts with label President Quirino. Show all posts

JONATHAN SEBALLOS…an Engineer who “rescues” and assists the distressed in President Quirino, Sultan Kudarat

By Apolinario Villalobos

Jonathan whose late parents, Ciriaco and Erlinda Villalobos were educators  in President Quirino, Sultan Kudarat is an Engineer  but due to his preference to stay with his parents and siblings, did not venture far enough to earn much that he deserves with such profession. When his mother was totally bedridden and became comatose, he took care of her, till her death.

He endured financial difficulties and persevered with a “Job Order” position assigned at the motor pool during the time of the former mayor, Emilio Salamanca. Later, he moved on to work with the Treasurer’s Office. Today, under the administration of the lady mayor, Azel Valenzuela Mangudadatu, he is at the helm of the President Quirino-DRRM, involved in rescues and control of risks.

At this time of the covid crisis, he personally escorts stranded farmers in the town, and who worked as sugar cane cutters, back to their home towns. Most often, he and his colleagues who alternate in driving the van would go home late but they endure the heavy task without a bit of complaint, in the name of compassion.

BARANGAY TINAUNGAN, PRESIDENT QUIRINO…the legacy of
SERAFIN LIMBUNGAN, SR., the First Mayor of Tacurong
By Apolinario Villalobos

When I visited my former classmate, Serafin Limbungan, Jr. on August 9, 2018, I learned that his elder sister, Dimpna and married to a Lucero, is the current Barangay Chairperson of Tinaungan. President Quirino. I immediately went to task of talking asking information from her about the barangay which has become synonymous to the Limbungan family, for having been founded by their late father, SERAFIN LIMBUNGAN, SR. and who happened also to be the first elected mayor of Tacurong City.

According to Mrs. Dimpna Limbungan-Lucero, they first settled in the area which is now called Purok 4 and where the first elementary school was built. She was then, 9 months old when their family arrived in the area. The big Limbungan family lived not far away, and where African palm trees stand after they transferred to another area which has now developed into the central area of the barangay. The transfer was due to an altercation with the other settlers due to the death of a member of the family.

Mrs. Lucero mentioned that their father arrived in Tinaungan in 1939 and aside from acquiring lands around the area, he also purchased residential lots in Tacurong in 1952, on one of which stood their ancestral house. It is located at the back of the Tacurong Pilot Elementary School and their neighbors were the Paraicos, Dasmariῆases and across the street the Carigabas. It is along the Quezon Ave.

During the time, the temporarily appointed OIC of Tacurong by virtue of the Presidential authority was a certain Soriano. To legitimize the administration of Tacurong, the first election was held which Serafin Limbungan, Sr. won. As there was no town hall then, the newly-elected mayor held office at the house of Rafael Dasmariῆas, a neighbor. According to Mrs. Lucero, while the upper floor was used as the office, a portion of the ground floor was used as a jail. She narrated that one of the early detainees was a mentally-ill resident who had a crush on a teacher, Lilia Litan of the nearby Tacurong Pilot Elementary School which was then known as Tacurong Central Elementary School. She added that as early as dawn each day, the detainee would shout out the name of the teacher imploring her to bring him food.

During her time, Mrs. Lucero related that the secondary schools she could recall were the Central Cotabato Colleges which later became Magsaysay Memorial Colleges, Notre Dame of Tacurong where the boys and girls were in the same campus but later separated, Aumentado Fashion School which later became Grimaldo Fashion School, the Parisiene and the Buluan Academy which was renamed Tacurong Academy, then later, Lyceum of Southern Philippines, and today, Quezon Colleges of Southern Philippines. . That was during the 1950s.

When she graduated, Mrs. Lucero had her first teaching stint at Esperanza in 1967 up to 1969, then transferred to Tinaungan in 1970, Katiku in 1996, then to Tacurong Pilot Elementary School as principal in 1997 until her retirement in 2002. The next year, she was elected as Barangay Chairperson of Tinaungan which she occupied for a maximum term after which she decided to take a respite. Today, however, due to popular request, she again serves her “ka-barangays” after winning during the latest election.

It cannot be avoided to mention barangay Tinaungan every time interesting episodes of migration of Visayans from Iloilo are discussed as many of the pioneers of Tacurong settled first in Tinaungan before settling for convenience in Tacurong where schools were located. In this regard, Mrs. Lucero also mentioned during our conversation that many of the families from Iloilo arrived in Cotabato and took crude ferries to Buluan from where they trekked to Tinaungan. As mentioned in my earlier blog, other settlers from Iloilo opted to settle in New Passi, Rajah Muda, Baras and Katungal after hiking from Lambayong.

It is interesting to note what she mentioned as the name Tinaungan being the corrupted “Tinongan”. “Tinong” in Ilonggo is “calm”, and the area being “matinong” or calm, hence, the original name. An Ilocano teacher, however, purportedly started to call the place “Tinaungan” for his own convenience.

The fertile soil and the abundance of spring ensured the equally bountiful harvest from what the farmers would fill their land – rice, sugar cane, coconut and mangoes. The farmers enjoy a year-round harvest of rice and lately, some are starting put up poultries.

The barangay is accessibile from Lambayong, Tacurong and President Quirino on an interconnecting road system, although, some portions are yet, due for concreting. The road towards President Quirino, passes through the unfinished airport. And, those towards Tacurong and Lambayong traverse vast plantations of African palm and rice fields.

The barangay has two elementary schools, the old one at Purok 4 and the new one at the central area fronting the Barangay Hall.

Barangay Tinaungan, is part of President Quirino, the mayor of which is Azel Valenzuela-Mangudadatu.

THE ALBERTOS AND VALENZUELAS  OF BARANGAY  MANGELEN  IN PRESIDENT QUIRINO,  PROVINCE OF SULTAN KUDARAT….AND THEIR POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

By Apolinario Villalobos

For one thing, Barangay Mangelen is the birthplace of the current mayor of President Quirino, Hon. Azel Valenzuela- Mangudadatu, and whose mother belongs to the Alberto family that was among those the pioneers who tilled the once swampy land of what was once part of Suben. On the other hand, the current Barangay Chairman is her younger sister, Hon. Cherry Valenzuela. But what is more interesting is that the founder of the barangay Mangelen was her grandfather,  Mariano Alberto, father of her mom, Lolita. It’s the trust of the early residents that made her late father Medencio,  become the undefeated barangay Chairman of the fledgling “barrio”. An uncle, Virgilio Alberto also had a stint as a one-termer barangay Chairman, and I was fortunate to have met him in the morning of May 19, 2020 when I visited him at their home. I learned that he was also a one-termer Vice-Mayor of Presidente Quirino, formerly known as Sambolawan, which together with Tacurong City, were former “barrios” of Buluan,  a flourishing Maguindanao town that benefited from the flow of commerce along the Big River or “Rio Grande” that sliced through it.

The Albertos has a long history of political leadership.  According to Mr. Virgilio Alberto who was a retired military officer,  their father, Mariano who was then a Councilor of Buluan founded Barangay Mangelen on the land that was donated by Datu Luminog who was then, the mayor of the aforementioned town…that was during the early 1960s. Virgilio’s sister, Lolita married Medencio Valenzuela, and whose eldest daughter, AZEL, married to a Mangudadatu, is currently, the mayor of President Quirino. Her younger sister, Cherry is currently, the barangay Chairman of their birthplace, Mangelen. The rest of the siblings are Sheila Mae, Jennifer, and Novy.

The  Albertos and Valenzuelas  arrived in the vast wetland in 1935 during which the homestead program was at its height.  The area that they settled in, was politically part of Suben. Further east, the area  was then known as Sambolawan. The patriarch of the Albertos, Mariano who was married to Justiniana,  embarked on  a political career that landed him a post  as one of the Councilors of Buluan, a good arrangement as he represented the settlers in Suben.  As the settlement grew, Mayor Luminog decided to separate it from Suben, and in the process donated the land that they have been cultivating. To show their gratitude, the settlers named their “barrio” Mangelen after Mayor Luminog Mangelen.

With the establishment of the barrio of Mangelen  that was weaned from Suben to become  a new political unit under Buluan, Mariano Alberto was chosen by the settlers to become their first “Teniente del Barrio”. The son, Virgilio had his chance to spearhead their barangay for one term, and later became the Vice-mayor of President Quirino. His brother –in-law, Medencio Valenzuela and husband of his younger sister, Lolita also became a Barangay Chairman but he recorded a feat as the undefeated leader until he finally decided to give way to other trusted fellow Ilocanos.  As fate would have it, two of his children inherited his political leadership….Cherry who is the current Barangay Chairperson of Mangelen, one of the barangays of President Quirino, at the helm of which as the current mayor is Azel who is married to a Mangudadatu of Buluan.

During my talk with Mr. Virgilio Alberto, he fondly recalled his 28 years in his combined police and military career.  He confided that he was a police officer when he was called to render duty in the military during the Martial Law, the time of dictator, Ferdinand Marcos.  As he got no choice, he tried his best to do his job well until the time of his retirement. He met his wife, Susan, who was then, teaching at the Lyceum of Southern Philippines in Tacurong.  The couple is blessed with eight offspring: Robinson, Ricardo, Rafael, Virgilio Jrl, Glenn, Virna, Lochinvar and Dexter. When I visited the family, I was with my nephew, Nonoy who is their godchild during his baptism and his marriage.

At the rate good things are going including a provincial road being constructed towards the direction of the western barangays that include Mangilala,  to connect with the Alunan highway that cuts through Tacurong  and leads towards South Cotabato, Mangelen is  definitely facing a bright future.