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TARLAC CITY: The American Council of Young Political
Leaders (ACYPL), affiliated with both the Republican and Democratic
parties in the US, visited Tarlac for a three-day study of the
province’s agricultural practices and projects and the public
educational systems in high school and elementary.
Only the fifth ACYPL to visit the
country and the first to visit Tarlac, the team was led by
Carbondale, Illinois, Mayor Brad Cole. He was with Bill Huizenga,
member of the Michigan State House of Representatives; Roger James
Roth, member of the Wisconsin State House Representatives; Marcia
Rubensohn, Georgia Municipal Association associate general counsel;
Nicole Parra, California State assembly member; Executive Director
Jill Krownski, Vermont Democratic Party; Gerron Levi, Maryland House
Delegates member; and John Lesch, Minnesota House of Representatives
member.
The team arrived on August 7 with
Tarlac Senior Board Member Pearl Angeli Erguiza-Pacada, the National
Movement of Young Legislators vice-president for Luzon, as the lead
guide and the main author of the ACYPL visit to Tarlac.
The US delegates first visited
the Tarlac State University Laboratory School, which provided them a
glimpse of the educational system offered by the school. This was
followed by a courtesy call to Gov. Victor Yap of Tarlac and the
provincial officials at the capitol where they were presented with
an overview of the province.
Yap, in his message, thanked the
ACYPL delegates for choosing Tarlac as one of its destinations.
“In behalf of the provincial
government of Tarlac, I thank you for choosing our province as one
of your tour destinations. Although we are worlds apart in terms of
economic prosperity but abreast in cooperation and common goals…I
am sure both our governments could learn a lot from this,” Yap
said.
Pacada said that the visit is a
precursor to future mutual tie-ups with the ACYPL.
“I hope that we could forge a
mutual tie-up with them in the future. Their visit was beneficial to
both our governments,” she said.
The ACYPL team also visited the
municipality of Concepcion, the rice fields of Mayantoc, the Lubigan
Ecotourism Park in San Jose, Tarlac, and a tour at the tilapia
hatchery and production facility in Barangay Tibagan.
 --Mark
Louie Roxas
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