bahay-saliksikan ng bulacan

On my second day in the Philippines, I went on a road trip to three local studies centers in three different provinces. I knew it was going to be a long day and I was probably going to be jetlagged still, but that was the only way it was going to fit in my schedule.

We left the house around 7am to make it to my 9am appointment at the first stop: Bahay-Saliksikan ng Bulacan (Center for Bulacan Studies), which is located at Bulacan State University (BulSU) in Malolos, Bulacan.

As we had no real directions, we just had to make sure we got to the city and then started asking around where the university was. It was a good thing we left early because, when we got to the gates, the guards had no idea where the Center was. After asking around, he pointed us next door to the Provincial Capitol Compound. We finally stop to asked questions, and it just so happened we were at the Provincial Library. While the first (younger) librarian did not know the answer, the second (older) one did. And so we went back to the University armed with the name of the building.

We finally did find the building, in which the Center was located. Here is the entrance to the Center:

I had an appointment with Dr. Agnes Crisostomo, the Director of the Center (pictured below, center). I also met one of Center's researchers (except I can't remember his name!) They told me about the history of the Center, what it does, and what it contains.

Like the other local studies centers in the country, the Center basically aims to encourage research on the province, its people, and its culture. It serves as a resource to researchers (like the researcher above, left). The library (see below) contains general books about the Philippines, but also specific ones related to the province. In addition, they have vertical files of photocopied materials from the National Archives of the Philippines.

The Center also produces publications such as the ones below:

In addition, the Center is responsible for establishing and maintaining the Bulacan Heroes Park, a park located inside the BulSU campus that honors heroes (primarily from the revolutionary period) who hailed from the province. Here are some pictures:

The researcher was very informed and told me many stories about the Park and the heroes featured in it.