MANILA, Philippines - Thirty-seven barangays in Barugo in Northern Leyte are recipients of textbooks, workbooks and various reading materials from SM Foundation. According to Nat-Nat de Guzman, PRO of Circulo Barugueno, an association of residents of Barugo based in Manila, 33 day care centers located in these barangays were given the bulk of the reading materials while elementary schools received textbooks, workbooks and reference books like dictionaries and encyclopedias.
The Circulo Barugueno picked up the books from SM warehouses and were transported to Barugo in a 24-hour trip by land and met by local school officials and teachers from the recipient schools. It became a mini-fiesta in each school as they have never experienced a windfall of books in their community before.
Barugo is a town which nestles by the coast of Carigara Bay, has a land area of 89 square kilometers composed of six districts which make up the town proper and 37 barangays. It is home to more than 36,000 people. Farming and fishing are the main source of livelihood in the town. Baruguenos acknowledge that education plays an integral part in their development as individuals and as members of the community. Judging from the number of professionals and graduates that the town has produced and the numbers of schoolchildren enrolled in public schools, Baruguenos indeed put a premium on education.