By Eva C. Visperas

 

ON December 1, 2023, Pangasinenses and visitors that gathered at the Capitol area witnessed another yet grand ceremonial lighting of the Christmas display, with a purpose.

The usual fanfare and attendance of VIPs were expected but the purpose for which all the glitz and glamour were dedicated to was novel.

On the big screen fronting the Capitol flashed farmer Jun Naval’s sad narration about his two children’s struggle to study by the dim light of a gas lamp in a remote village in Pita, Infanta, Pangasinan, where electricity is a distant dream. Describing their struggle with words of sadness, viewers could not but feel emotional.

That man in in the video was watching his young children with a heavy heart as their eyes  squinted reading schoolbooks, their vision was obscured by the flickering glow of a gas lamp.

Then came a ray of hope on November 30.

The governor’s wife, Maan Tuazon-Guico, visited them, and gifted them with solar lanterns and food packs. Finally, the flickering light from the gas lamp, once a symbol of their isolation, was replaced by a steady, unwavering glow, a promise of a future illuminated by knowledge and opportunity.

Mrs. Guico promised to bring more light to other dark corners of the province, in addition to a medical mission for the villagers. As president of First Spouses League of Pangasinan, composed of spouses of officials of towns and cities, she raises funds by selling ornaments to be placed on a giant Christmas tree at the Capitol, with notes and special greetings to their beneficiaries.

Mrs. Guico’s group already started the fund raising project last Christmas. The First Spouses League of Pangasinan raised P700,000 from the Christmas tree ornaments sold.

Mrs. Guico and Atty. Melanie Lambino, the wife of Vice Gov. Mark Lambino, who led the lighting of the giant Christmas tree of hope, are not simply ‘First Ladies’ , but are committed to share the light in many corners of the province.

As Mrs. Guico told us in our interview: “We are sharing the light in the Capitol, and we want it to reach every corner of Pangasinan”.

See that giant Christmas tree in front of the provincial Capitol building? The provincial capitol building proudly hosts a towering Christmas tree purposely not merely as a festive adornment for the Yuletide season, but also as a means to generate funds for the distribution of solar panels to light households without electricity.

The ornaments placed below the giant Christmas tree are being sold for P2,000 to P100,000 for the project. To facilitate processing of pledges and contributions to buy solar lights for families in remote villages that remain without access to electricity., the provincial government put up a booth inside the Christmas bazaar on the capitol grounds to accept these.

“We want the light of the capitol to be extended to their community,” Tuazon-Guico said.

Yes, you, too, can share the light you enjoy through a simple act of kindness by donating to this worthy cause and share that light of hope.

Make a difference in the lives of others, and not only during Christmas. #

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