Group strives to live up to national hero’s name

A community-based group from a little-known poor municipality in Laguna may become the province’s official representative to a nationwide search for people or institutions that exemplify the works of national hero Jose Rizal.

The Batang Rizal Organization (BRO) started as a website called the BatangRizal in 2009. It was shared by residents of Rizal town in 2009 until a group of elementary school teachers suggested that it become a formal organization.

Now, the BRO has over a thousand members—from grade schoolers and out-of-school youths to tricycle drivers, teachers, professionals and a few honorary members from neighboring towns.

The municipality of Rizal lies between the more popular San Pablo City and Nagcarlan town. It has a population of 15,000, a land area of 27 square kilometers, and a yearly income of some P31 million.

“Unlike the towns of San Pedro, Biñan, Cabuyao (in Laguna), we don’t have the opportunity to host a ‘Toyota Rizal.’ We do have an SM (referring to the popular mall), but ours means sa may manggahan (by the mango orchard),” Vice Mayor Ferdinand Sumague said.

‘Identity crisis’

He said Rizal’s “identity crisis” or its being confused and compared with the more popular and progressive Rizal province in the Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) region was pulling back the town’s economy.

“We cannot just wait for miracles to happen. We cannot forever be the poorest, unknown town of Laguna,” he said.

Ellen Visey, BRO president and preschool owner, said her group’s main goal was to promote the town.

Last year, when the local government discovered the history behind Tayak Hill, a 560-meter plateau in Barangay Tala which served as a command post of Filipino and American troops in 1945, the BRO took charge of promoting the place into a local biking and hiking tourist destination.

The BRO also organized the BatangRizal Kite Festival, its version of the Freedom Climb to Tayak Hill, and a benefit concert in support of the local health services.

A subgroup called BR Productions encourages talents in music, songwriting and video-making.

In December last year, the BRO formed a cooperative to design and market souvenir shirts and pins printed with the BRO logo.

Aside from being a civic organization, Sumague said the group was also “patriotic” as it promoted love for one’s hometown and culture.

In a way, he said, it was changing the residents’ mindset that theirs is an unheard-of community in Laguna.

League resolution

In November, the Vice Mayors’ League of Laguna named the BRO as a leading nongovernment organization in Laguna and the province’s official nominee in the National Historical Commission of the Philippines’ (NHCP) search for outstanding institutions to receive the Rizal Award.

Angelica Jones Alarva, provincial board member from the third district, authored a similar resolution supporting the BRO’s nomination.

The award will be given by the NHCP to 10 individuals and 10 institutions that “perpetuate the life and works of (the) national hero” in commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Jose Rizal. The one-year search for nominees is open until March.

Sumague said the recognition given by the provincial government was already a big win for the town, whether or not the BRO would receive the award.

The resolution cited the BRO for being at the forefront in finding historical accounts and places that gave Rizal a spot in history, thus putting an end to the town’s “identity crisis.”