Driver of Change
by Maielle Montayre
Photos by Romeo Peralta, Jr.
IN PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
After considering its limitations and building on its strengths as a convergence hub, Binalonan is transforming itself into a dynamic municipality, one that has built a niche economy as a university town under the leadership of Mayor Ramon V. Guico III.
Marked as a crossroad for cultural and agricultural exchanges of Pangasinan, the Ilocos, and the Cordilleras, the town of Binalonan, a first-class municipality in the province of Pangasinan, has transformed from an uninhabited forested area to a lush agricultural community to a burgeoning rural town. Bordered by bustling municipalities and cities of eastern Pangasinan, Binalonan strives to make a name for itself. With growing infrastructures, developing services, and connecting roads and highways, the town is catching up to its vision of becoming a progressive university town.
The current mayor of Binalonan, Ramon V. Guico III, answered the call to public service when he ran for Vice Mayor in 2007. He was elected later as Mayor in 2010, a position he holds until now. “It’s my hometown,” he simply says. “I wanted to give back to my roots and prove that when you have a clear vision of what you want to do, you can achieve it.” With a doctorate degree in Public Management from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), he set about the task of further improving his hometown.
The current mayor of Binalonan, Ramon V. Guico III, answered the call to public service when he ran for Vice Mayor in 2007. He was elected later as Mayor in 2010, a position he holds until now. “It’s my hometown,” he simply says. “I wanted to give back to my roots and prove that when you have a clear vision of what you want to do, you can achieve it.” With a doctorate degree in Public Management from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), he set about the task of further improving his hometown.
Founded in November 10, 1834, Binalonan consists of 24 barangays spread over its 8,400-hectare land area. Its name is derived from the Pangasinan term balon, in Tagalog baon, which means “packed lunch.” It is said that the workers of a Spanish land-owner would rest and have their lunch underneath the trees located at heart of the land where the municipality stands today. Binalonan is a term in Ilocano and Pangasinan signifying a place where people come to bring and eat their lunch. The town traces its roots to the Ilocano people who migrated due to the drastic effects of colonial policies involving taxes and to find greener pasture in the uncultivated lands of eastern Pangasinan.
Since then, Binalonan has risen from a poor town to a promising agricultural municipality with rice crops as one of its main products. It continues to produce sugar cane, an ingredient used for basi (sugar cane wine), suka (vinegar), and muscovado (dark brown sugar), which are some of the town’s top products. It was in 1989 when the third-class municipality of Binalonan graduated into a first-class municipality, owing to its rising income and population. “But I told myself that we should not stop with just being a first-class municipality,” Mayor Guico says.
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