Lone Cordi TOSP

LA TRINIDAD — With an aim to empower the citizenry in the locality specially the youth, newly crowned Top Outstanding Student of the Philippines (TOSP), Apolinario ‘Apoli’ Bagano, a graduate of Development Communications of Benguet State University (BSU), vows to continue what he has started while he intends to conquer yet another feat outside the walls of the University – Law School.

BSU’s pride Apoli is now an instant celebrity not only around BSU but in the whole region CAR as well. This is because he is the lone Cordi student that made it through in this year’s TOSP. And even without the TOSP award, Apoli will still always be a celebrity through the eyes and hearts of many high school students and communities he has touched in the region.

Apoli’s 360-degree turn around

Apoli’s enthusiasm to help the less-privileged was never that high during his earlier high school days in BSU. Though he never experienced flunking, his grades had all been sevens. Apoli never cared about his grades, so long that they are passing numbers. He even disclosed before this author that during these times, he only cared about computer games and that his world revolves around the computer screen and its keyboard.

It is only during his late high school days when he made a 360-degree change. Apoli found the girl that radically changed his perspective of life. But unlike cheesy Filipino movies, the girl in Apoli’s life that changed him was his high school teacher-mentor, Jean Tom of BSU secondary school (BSU’s High School Department).

Needless to say, Apoli’s essay-writing skills caught the attention of Tom; skills which she helped polished until Apoli’s exit to secondary education.

Having great mentoring from Tom and good writing skills, Apoli went on and enrolled in Development Communication (DevCom). There, his critical mind lit up. He began involving himself in student organizations, wherein he joined the BSU College of Agriculture (CA) student publication. Apoli then mastered his skills and joined essay-writing competitions even at his early years in college.

In his sophomore year, he stood out from the rest of his fellow lower-years. Upper BSU DevCom students started involving Apoli in their community visits, which was an academic requirement only for junior and senior DevCom students. Despite being only a sophomore back then, he still managed to cope up with his seniors in the DevCom department.

It was during those community visits when Apoli was exposed on the different social and environmental issues affecting the people of Benguet. There, he found his true calling.

In their community visits, Apoli realized the power of pen and paper as the medium for empowering the less-privileged residents in the community. Through writing, Apoli immortalized the stories of the people from the communities they visited in the BSU CA student publication ‘Agshan’, circulated not only inside the College of Agriculture but in the entire university as well. His stories played a huge role to the social awareness of his fellow students inside the university.

Aside from writing stories from their community visits, Apoli and his colleagues also conduct journalism trainings to selected High Schools and communities throughout Benguet and in adjacent municipalities of Mountain Province. They pass their acquired knowledge on outside the walls of the university, indeed staying true to their profession as DevComs.

While studying in BSU, Apoli was able to manage his time as a public servant to the youth during his time as one of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Kagawads of Balili, La Trinidad. Apoli, together with fellow kagawads, captured the interest of the youth and steered them clear of unhealthy vices.

Through sports they have managed to inject good-quality norms for nation-building to their fellow youths. They used sports to lure the youth in attending their social awareness seminars.

In his junior days, Apoli applied for the exchange student program and was granted to represent BSU in Japan. There, Apoli witnessed and experienced the perks of a first world country from education, urban development to agriculture. But Instead of envying and comparing the level of progress to the Philippines, Apoli saw it as fuel to boost his dedication in helping his fellow countrymen, who seems to be hard up in coping with the pace of development.

In his senior year, Apoli became the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the school paper CA Pride. There he revitalized CA Pride’s annual tradition wherein CA Pride is required to administer one basic journalism training in one selected high school in Benguet. However, in his term as CA Pride EIC they visited and conducted trainings in 13 high schools in Baguio, Benguet, Mountain Province and Ifugao.

These basic journalism trainings served as a tool for Apoli and his colleagues to entice social involvement from the youth.

Apoli’s quest in law school

Citing some of his conversations with community elders, Apoli become aware of the exploitation being done to the communities. Profit-driven individuals take advantage of the lack of knowledge of some less-privileged community residents and elders in attaining a vast number of properties, mostly land. From that moment on and following his father’s footsteps, Apoli swears to continue to render voluntary paralegal assistance to the community even after his undergraduate years, in which he will be entering law school. If granted the lawyer’s license after, he’ll be doing pro bono.

Law school will culminate Apoli’s experiences. In his entry to law school, Apoli will be carrying with him an essential tool that will separate him from the rest of the would-be lawyers.

His herculean principle to empower the less-privileged populace, which was forged by his years of community immersions, is a formidable weapon that will help guide him in construing our law’s complexity, for it to benefit the needy. After all, framers designed our statutes so that those who have less in life have more in law. But without the appropriate weapon to construe, laws will appear gibberish and be just words on paper, thus discounting its true intent and wisdom.