05/09/2026
BAGANI. ๐ชถ
A word rooted in our countryโs indigenous heritage, Bagani speaks of a warrior and a leaderโsomeone who has the courage to stand, the strength to lead, and the heart to serve.
And perhaps, that is why the name fits.
Patricia Dennisse A. Balicoโour Secretary-General, our environmental committee chairperson, a teacher by profession, a volunteer by heart, and now the lone Laoagueรฑo among the 50 Bagani Fellows of the AGOS Cohort of the Bagani Leaders Development Program of the Development Academy of the Philippines.
But before Bagani, there was already a trail.
She sat in the 1st Laoag City Youth Parliament not merely to occupy a seat, but to do the work. As Chairperson of the Committee on Environment, she helped push an environmental measure that eventually found its way beyond the walls of the Youth Parliament and into the Sangguniang Panlungsod, now City Ordinance No. 13SP-2026-078โLaoagโs ordinance on electronic waste and household hazardous waste recovery, collection, recycling, environmentally sound management, and extended producer responsibility.
And when there was work to be done outside the session hall, she was there too.
Clean-up drives.
Project Arayat tree nurturing.
Outreach activities.
Youth development initiatives.
Different spaces, same Patricia: showing up.
And long before the Youth Parliament, she had already proven that she could excel. In the 2024 Licensure Examination for Teachers, she placed Top 9.
This is what makes this moment bigger than a fellowship.
A young Laoagueรฑa is stepping into a room built for the next generation of leaders.
And she comes from a province that has never been short of Ilocano names in the story of Philippine leadership. From the halls of government to the fields of education, public service, nursing, and civic work, Ilocanos have long carried with them that familiar Ilocano trait: Gunay sakbay saoโwork first, talk later.
Laoag has its own women who remind us what an Ilocana can do.
Josefa Llanes Escoda, born in Dingras, Ilocos Norte, became a teacher, social worker, advocate for women's suffrage, and founder of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines.
Anastacia Giron-Tupas, born right here in Laoag, became a pioneering figure in Philippine nursing and helped lay the foundation for the Filipino Nurses Association.
Different generation. Different battlefield. Different calling.
But perhaps the same spirit.
And now, a new generation has its own story to write.
Patricia, this is your Bagani moment.
Carry the name of Laoag with you. Carry the lessons from every committee meeting, every volunteer activity, every classroom, every community you have served.
Because leadership is not always about being the loudest in the room.
Sometimes, it is simply being the one who keeps showing up.
Agtutubo a Laoagueรฑo, agtultuloy tayo.
From Laoag, to the next horizon.
Congratulations, Bagani Patricia. ๐ชถ
