Speech of Atty. Dominador D. Buhain for the Second Ceremonial
Turn-over of PEPAMALUA Books in Bogo, Cebu
We are not even a month yet into the new millennium and things are looking good for our country. There are both positive indications in the national economy and bright prospects for the international market. What should have been the end of the world is turning out to be the genesis of better things for our nation, and it is the desire of the Philippine Educational Publishers Association or PEPA along with the League of Municipalities of the Philippines and the National Library to add to the good karma that is ushering in the new year.
The three-way merger between PEPA, the LMP and the National Library has been inked early last year for the purpose of improving the academic situations along the countryside. The merger, dubbed as the PEPAMALUA project, involves the donation of reading materials for students and the establishment of libraries or reading centers.
What better way is there to launch the new millennium than by giving out free books to Filipino youth who cannot otherwise afford to buy these necessary reading materials? This is exactly the reason why we gather here today. Ours is a momentous event for this marks the first of the many other scheduled points of donation for this year, this century, this millennium. PEPAMALUA has scheduled to donate books to 31 municipalities from 1991 to 2001 and one of these drop-in points is our beloved municipality of Bogo, Cebu.
Your thriving municipality has been chosen as one of our recipients mainly because of the following reasons: (1) the Local Government Unit or LGU has helped us determine areas that are in need of such reading materials, (2) we believe that your youth deserves only the best books, and (3) we understand that the students of Bogo, Cebu are only too eager to learn and be educated by these books. This is the second Ceremonial Turn-Over of PEPAMALUA books for the Visayas and there will be 9 other similar ceremonies in the near future.
And so, ladies and gentlemen, after all that’s been said and done, it is my pleasure in joining the honorable Mayor Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, Chairman of the LMP, in turning to your beloved mayor, Honorable Celestino Martinez III, over 1,860 volumes of books for the library of Bogo, Cebu. Congratulations to all the residents of Bogo and it is our hope that the books we donate will bring about enhancement of education and the betterment of living conditions in this part of the country.
