Time doesn’t heal all wounds. Nine years have passed and I still carry this burden in my heart.
Those who have submitted proposals to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) would understand if I say it is not easy to get approved. All details have to be written, including the Gantt Chart and line item budget. As an independent cultural worker, I had to shoulder the expenses of making the proposal (and later, the project) work. So I was elated to know that my proposal to host the International Museum Day (IMD) in Lopez was approved by the NCCA in 2014. Imagine hosting such a big event and showing the guests what my hometown had to offer. Local businesses can have their products showcased and sold. Networks among the attendees and the locals could go a long way, to the point of bringing progress to the local community. These and a lot more are opportunities that added up to the excitement of making the guests experience Lopez.
I had no inkling, not a bit, that it would be a lesson that I would learn the hard way.
At first, the local chief executive (LCE) was happy and “proud” of me as his konsehala although I did not make it to the local elections as municipal councilor. He introduced me to his tourism officer who would be coordinating with me on the project. But that was the end of it. What happened after had been a nightmare. I kept chasing the person for schedules and everything, until he asked for the postponement of the event. I had no choice but to agree, but it had to be done within the month of May, since the IMD is May 18th and the National Heritage Month is May, so we moved it on the last few days of that month.
In order to arrange everything, I attended the meeting of the Bids and Awards Committee, since I was told that it is needed. The meeting didn’t happen due to lack of quorum. Another head of the department told me that it is not needed anyway, because the project can just be considered for “shopping” and there was no need for bidding. She told me that a certain amount needed bidding, but our project would qualify for only “shopping.” I also went to the Human Resources Department for the appointment of the personnel that would help in the project. I got what I needed, signed by the LCE. All was set, as far as I was concerned. But the treasurer did not allow for the implementation of the project because even if the MOA had been signed, the money had not been downloaded. But in the first place, they were late in submitting the bank details that the NCCA had been asking for. So poor coordinator had to carry the burden. Visitors were coming, I cannot back out.
I did everything that a cultural worker between the local government and the national government agencies would do. I have the paper trail to prove this. But then I was just an individual trying to make sense and am not part of the bureaucracy. Our expenses, our speakers, and even my honorarium as coordinator which would have helped provide glasses for our exhibits at the museum, were not paid. A few years later, the tourism officer told me that they returned the fund, “pero meron nang bawas.”