The Top 3 Most Common Issues and Concerns around Pulilan, Bulacan

By: Ramos, Ma. Andrea Erin E. | BA Journalism 2- A

Chosen community: Pulilan town community

The town of Pulilan is my very own hometown. There are many farms, ancestral houses to visit, and famous fiestas such as the Kneeling Carabao Festival and the Kapistahan ng Mahal na Birhen ng Biglang Awa, which people worldwide are visiting. However, despite the beautiful townscapes and festivities, there hides the systematic neglect of its incompetent officials and the lack of discipline among its residents, as revealed by some Pulileños I interviewed recently.

Regarding my fellow Pulileño respondents, the issues and concerns stated from the survey I provided were a testament that the citizens' plea deserves more attention and must be heard.

Moreover, based on the answers gathered from the interview, there are three most common general problems that my respondents find worthy of giving attention to. These are:

1. The incompetence of the officials of the Municipality of Pulilan.

2. The poor handling of welfare services.

3. The mismanagement of public work and spaces.

Under these categories, they raised: problematic road constructions, defective streetlights, discrepancies with community tax certificates, inadequate educational assistance, an increasing number of stray cats and dogs, poor solid waste management and collection, slow processing of papers from barangays, and the rising cases of teenage pregnancies in the town. Unfortunately, these problems have resulted in further deterioration of the quality of services and assistance provided to its citizens and difficulties maintaining the streets' cleanliness and orderliness.

Three of my respondents labeled the same problem concerning the incompetence of the officials of the Municipality of Pulilan. One of the main issues mentioned by Benjo Mangalindan is that whenever a candidate was elected, the platforms and projects they promised would remain unfulfilled for the duration of their terms as elected officials. They also observe that incumbents and candidates often engage in negative campaigning that contributes to the proliferation of fake news and misinformation. Additionally, preferential and unequal treatment is prevalent by officials of some barangays here in Pulilan to their constituents, as reported by Ryme Tiempo and Aleann Yabut.

Furthermore, another three of my respondents cited the poor handling of welfare services. One of the main issues stated by Cherina Rivero is the absence of appropriate sex education, which was seen as the primary cause of rising cases of teenage pregnancy in one barangay. Also, Jolina Calderon and Ivan Torres listed the lack of educational assistance in our community: barangay officials only provide very few programs and the means to support the needs of poor and unfortunate students.

Last but not the least, one of the most common concerns is the mismanagement of public work and spaces, such as unattended streetlights, unjustified road constructions, and the illegal parking problem. These issues are sure to be found on the streets. Most of my respondents still pointed out that they wanted to call out those concerns to lessen the problems such as the frequent and prolonged traffic jams and lower the risks of an accident happening within our streets, especially in areas prone to such events.

In conclusion, the general problems raised were sought to be solved as the interviewees believed that it would definitely improve living conditions in the community and that they wanted more reliable officials who would listen to their voices and act as true leaders.