CCP president and NCCA chairman
I am a native son of Bulacan, the town of Sta. Maria to be more specific. So if I seem to be superfluous or excessive in the way I speak about the province, I hope you will forgive me.
There are so many things of interest about this province that can amaze even a true-bred Bulakenyo like me. History, culture, art, cuisine, language, agriculture you will never run out of topics when you dwell on Bulacan.
Many of us are already familiar about Bulacan’s place in our history. This is the birthplace of heroes such as Marcelo H. Del Pilar and Gen. Gregorio del Pilar. This is the site of the three Revolutionary Republics: the Kakarong Republic of 1896, the Biak-na-Bato Republic of 1897, and the Malolos Republic of 1899. I won’t dwell anymore on these historical facts because they have been told already too often.
My father is Serafin Cruz Guinigundo, Apin to his friends, whom everybody thought was a fool for reciting Filipino poetry for hours before an old family mirror one summer afternoon. He commandeered it and carried it down and placed it under a fruit tree. He was barely ten when my grandmother Juliana rushed to ask him what was wrong with his mind. Some of my father’s playmates apparently suspected he went nuts and told on him.
So many things my father taught me, and this was one of them. If I wanted to do good with my craft, I must practice to perfection.