By Arnel M. Barangan
Contributor
I am
a pure Ilocano and a Sarrateño residing now
in Cebu City. I spent the last Christmas in Sarrat and in time also on the
occasion of my first cousin’s wedding last December.
I used to visit Sarrat, my
father’s hometown and birthplace in the late 1990s. How I loved to swim in the
crystal clear waters of Padsan River that divides the town. My cousins and I
were very happy catching goby or the so-called “bokto”. Then we caught crabs,
lobsters, tilapia, dalag from their rama, a cluster of twigs covered with
coconut leaves submerged into the water and used as a sanctuary and a habitat
of fish and other crustaceans. We also had a nice time picnicking at Sagpatan
Dam located at Barangay 22 in Sarrat.
To maximize my last vacation
here in Sarrat, we toured and traveled the neighboring cities of Batac and
Laoag and almost all the towns of Ilocos Norte except Carasi and Adams. I’ve
noticed how fast Ilocos Norte have soared to progress. I love the windmills in
the northern towns. Gosh, big malls are already in San Nicolas Town and Laoag
City.
I loved going around the
market of Batac City where I bought the rare vegetable my father used to tell
me called “banitog”. Then we dropped
by San Nicolas for the famous Ilocano “bagnet”.
I remember from San Nicolas we preceded to Dingras town. It was a Wednesday
morning and luckily it was the town’s open-market-day. I bought my favorite tupig a native delicacy made from malagkit. On that same day, we went to
Solsona town and I bought a deer horn and venison (deer meat) as pasalubong. From Solsona, we decided to
go and pass by Piddig town before going back to Sarrat. Inside the market of
Piddig, I noticed a bottle with shells in it. I asked my uncle what that is and
he answered me that is called “birabid”, one
of the Ilocano favorite dishes.
During our dinner that same
day, I asked my uncle why our dear Sarrat is being left behind in terms of
progress compared to neighboring adjacent towns. My uncle just shrugged his
shoulder and said it is because of too much politicking and no will of the
chief executive to work for progress. At that moment I just let my uncle speak.
He continued, you see son, just a matter of observation from our trip from San
Nicolas to Dingras—I did not see any more the welcome arc along the national
highway at Sitio Tagiporo in Santa Rosa village. He told me that the welcome
arc was accidentally bumped and destroyed by a dump truck and my uncle came to
know that the dump truck owner had already paid the damages but reported
allegedly pocketed by a Sarrat official.
I remained adamant for a
while but to break the silence, I asked my uncle—why public market of Sarrat is
like a skeleton not like the beautiful and clean markets of neighboring towns.
He told me it is because of no transparency and no full accountability? Why? I
asked him and he threw back the question to me and said, if you are a member of
the legislative body, would you concur for the passage of additional budget for
the market if the last fund allocated is not yet clear on where it was spent?
Would you not ask for the supporting documents where the people’s money went? I
did not ask anymore question to my uncle, perhaps, I just kept to myself my own
observation that Sarrat public market and plaza is the worst of all the places in Ilocos that I saw.
My dear kababayan Sarrateños
wake up! Rise and shout again our slogan “Ritritemon Cayong”, I AM URGING YOU THAT THIS COMING MAY
ELECTIONS—IT IS NOW TIME TO THINK AND VOTE FOR A CHANGE. LET US ALL HELP EACH
OTHER TO MAKE SARRAT GEARED TOWARDS REAL PROGRESS. DO NOT VOTE FOR THOSE WHO
MAKE POLITICS AS THEIR SOURCE OF INCOME. YOU KNOW THOSE WHO ARE CORRUPT. DO NOT VOTE FOR THEM FOR THEY DO NOT HAVE THE
MORAL ASCENDANCY TO GOVERN. THOSE WHO DO NOT RESPECT THE DIGNITY OF WOMEN HAVE
NO PLACE IN PUBLIC SERVICE. PUBLIC SERVICE IS A PUBLIC TRUST. IT MUST BE THE
WELFARE OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND NOT THEIR SELVES.
(Mr. Barangan is a seaman and a professional photographer. His father is
a retired public school teacher and a member of Sarrat National High School
Batch 1965.)
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