Gawad Dangal ng Lipi (ng Bulakenyo)

Last Sunday, I received a letter from the Office of the Provincial Governor of Bulacan (Gov. Jonjon R. Mendoza) that I was chosen to be one of the recipients of the 2009 Gawad Dangal ng Lipi (GDnL), which will be awarded on September 14 during the Gawad Dangal ng Lipi Night to be held at the Provincial Capitol Gymnasium.

Part of the letter says, "Ito ang pinakamataas na karangalang ipinagkakaloob ng Pamahalaang Panlalawigan ng Bulacan sa mga may dugong Bulakenyong naging katangi-tangi sa larangang kanilang ginagalawan."

I was teary-eyed after reading this part.

In June, right after the PRC Outstanding Professional Awards, I was informed by the BCCI Exec. Director Mara Bautista that Chairman Tony Tengco and President Violy Luna of the Bulacan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) had approved my nomination to the GDnL (Professional Category) and that they needed to get some information from me. I sent my resume and other supporting documents.

In August, I was told by the Chair of our Business Administration Department that she was interviewed by a GDnL staff. The same person called our residence and talked to my daughter, Evette.

During the last half of August and early part of September, we did not really know if I was still in contention as we did not receive any word on the selection's development from the GDnL secretariat. Somebody called me on Friday (Sept. 4) at my office in Baliuag University and asked if they could take pictures of me and my family. I told them it was extremely difficult to bring my children together during weekdays because they are all working in Metro Manila.

I asked if I could give them instead a family picture that was taken earlier. I also asked about the status of the selection process. I was told that I was one of the finalists but that the final list of awardees remains to be confidential. I decided to go to the BCCI Office (located near the Capitol Building) in the afternoon of the same day so that I could give the pictures without any delay knowing that the following days are weekend-days (no work) and giving the pictures early part of the following week might be too late. I thought of retrieving pictures of my family that had been posted in the internet and have them burnt into a CD (the GDnL staff I talked to suggested that the pictures be in a CD). BCCI had the CD delivered to a designated office at the Capitol.

Then Sunday came. I was at school (Baliuag University) in the afternoon to give final exams for my MBA class (Operations Management) when a group of men from the Provincial Capitol came to the house to deliver the letter coming from the Governor's Office. When I arrived home, everybody in the house was congratulating me because the men had informed the person left in the house (Girlie) about the purpose of their unannounced visit.

It is great to receive another prestigious award. More so, because the award is given by the provincial government of my adopted province in recognition of my lifetime accomplishments not only with the companies that I worked for but in relation to the community.

To God be the glory!