Provincial Board Member Alex Castro
To be young and full of hope
BY MARIDOL RANOA-BISMARK / PHOTOS BY MON ALMAZAN
Bulacan provincial board member Alex Castro always wanted to serve others. As a teen growing up in Barangay Hiyas, Marilao, this Dennis Trillo lookalike’s way of bonding with friends was joining the barangay’s Oplan Linis and other civic-oriented activities.
He not only made many friends along the way. His innate passion for service grew, until it became a way of life.
“Batang lansangan ako (I was a street kid),” he admits during an interview at Bulacan Governor Daniel Fernando’s official residence in Malolos one rainy afternoon. “I joined youth organizations.”
His outgoing ways and natural love for public service catapulted the then 16-year-old future politician to the highest position open to young people in government. Friends urged him to run as Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairman, a challenge he accepted, not because of peer pressure, but because his heart and mind was on public service.
Sangguniang Kabataan
Castro was elected, unopposed. He must have done well, even if he was the youngest to occupy the post. That’s because his fellow youth gave Castro a bigger responsibility soon after. They elected him head of Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation, which handles all the SKs in Bulacan. He held the position for five years.
The pace, to say the least, was hectic.
“Dumalo ako sa mga pagpupulong ng Sk. Nakipagdebate ako sa sesyong pang-plenaryo. Gumawa ako ng mga takdang aralin at mga proyekto sa paaralan. May mga pagsusulit din kami. Lumiliban ako sa klase dahil sa mga gawain ko sa SK (I attended (SK) meetings, debated in plenary sessions, finished school assignments, projects and exams. I’d be absent from class to attend sessions),” he recalls.
But he didn’t feel burned out. He even enjoyed his tightrope act of combining school and public
service.
SK taught Castro something four years in high school back then did not.
“Natuto akong mag-debate sa plenaryo. Nagsalita ako sa harap ng mga tao upang ibigay ang mga kuro-kuro ko tungkol sa mga isyu at isulong ang aking mga adbokasiya (I learned how to debate in plenary. I spoke up to give my opinion about issues and promote my advocacies),” Castro, now 35, looks back.
He also learned to multi-task and achieve a work-life balance, skills he now uses to the full as provincial legislator, devoted husband (to former dancer Sunshine Garcia) and father.
These skills came in handy when Castro ran, and won as the youngest councilor in Marilao. He was 21, and fresh from college. Like most people his age, Castro had the energy to attend his college graduation at the PICC (Philippine International Convention Center) in the morning, and rush to Bulacan to resume his door-to-door campaign.
