HISTORY

Many years ago, this place was a little village inhabited by a number of families. It could be seen everywhere in the village a fruit bearing tree called Bulala; its fruits are red, round and sweet. Because of this the people called the place Bulala.

Before this barrio was divided into two sitios called “Bulala na Mamara” and “Bulala na Saday” so that people could identify the place to go to, it was then thickly populated. Barangay Bulala has a total land area of 6,474 square meters with a distance of about 14 kilometers from the Poblacion and 1.5 kilometers from the national highway. It stands high and on top of the mountains, overlooking almost all other barangays of the municipality. The big land owners that time were Gabriel Hisita and Domingo Habig.

The people were all peace – loving and cooperative because of the good leadership of the Kapitan del Baryo, the late Mr. Valentine Diamante.

As time went on, the people need to sell their lands. They sold it the late Mr. Lee Chan. It was now the hacienda managed by a Kabo. This hacienda was divided to number of parcels among the tenants. Before the death of the old man, the hacienda was given to his son the late ex-board member Bartolome Lee Sr.

In the year 1960, a PTA school building was constructed with one teacher only; Mr. Vicente Dino was the first teacher and founder of this school. During the stay of Mr. Bartolome Lee in the barrio with his wife, the late ex-mayor Maxima Lee, a new Marcos Type Building was constructed and replaced the old PTA building for the school children.

The first chapel was also constructed, and the first barrio fiesta was celebrated on August 24, 1961 in honor of St. Bartolome as the patron saint. From then on, every 24^th of August, the people of Bulala celebrate the barrio fiesta.

Barangay Bulala is one of the upland rural barangay in the municipality of Magallanes, province of Sorsogon. It is bounded on the north by Barangay Pili, on the south by Barangay Magsaysay, by the Municipality of Juban on the east and Barangay Malbog on the west. It has a total land area of 399.1132 hectares divided into three (3) puroks.

It has a total population of 494 individuals composed of 256 males and 238 females and a total household of 93 with an average household size of 5 individuals based on Rapid Community Based Monitoring System Census of 2014.

Barangay Bulala has 9 children under 1 year old and 60 children 0-5 years old. Children 6-12 years old is composed of 88, these are the children in elementary years while there are only 64 members 13-16 years old in high school years. There are 125 members of the labor force who are employed.

The Barangay Health Center of Bulala is the primary health care provider in the barangay administered by the Barangay Health Worker and assisted by Midwife from the Municipal Health Office. There is also a Barangay Nutrition Scholar who organizes nutrition-related programs, projects and activities in the barangay. Based on the result of the validation, there are 6 malnourished children in the barangay and there is one child recorded under 5 years old who died and no women who died due to pregnancy related causes.

Barangay Bulala has a Day Care Center which accommodates children ages 3-5 and an elementary school from Grade 1 to Grade 6. The nearest high school is  Pili High School located at Barangay Pili approximately 2.5 km.

The barangay is accessible through tricycle, motorcycle or jeepney but regular trips going to and from the barangay is not yet established. There are no credit institutions in the barangay however it is only 30 minutes away from the Central Business District of the municipality of Magallanes where lending institutions are present.

The barangay’s source of water came from its own water system sourced out in a spring wherein all households have access to safe potable water.

Electricity in the barangay is accessed only by 80 households through the Sorsogon Electric Cooperative I (SORECO I), the local electric cooperative servicing the southern part of Sorsogon province. However, at present, the barangay had availed of the program for indigent household electrification which will be implemented this year, 2015.

Fifty seven percent of the households in the barangay are dumping garbage in an open pit (53), 52% are burning garbage and 22% and 17% are throwing garbage in river and composting, respectively. Some households are practicing recycling (14) while some are throwing in a closed pit (2).

Barangay Bulala is generally a peace manageable community with no recorded household victimized by crime. There are 10 Barangay Tanods that conducts regular patrolling to ensure peace and safety in the barangay.

The proposed residential zone are the lots along barangay road which includes Lots 2076,3719,2075,3711,3718,3715pt.,2077pt. and 3723pt., while the proposed expansion for barangay site is Lot 3708 owned by Glenn Lee with an area of 15.8291 hectares.

Barangay Bulala has a total population of 494 and a total household of 93 with an average household size of 5 individuals based on Rapid Community Based Monitoring System Census of 2014. Among puroks, the most populated is Purok 3 with 237 individuals and the least populated is Purok 1 with 111 individuals.

There are 256 males and 238 females in the barangay based on the Rapid Community Based Monitoring System (RCBMS) Survey of 2014. The age – group population structure (Figure 1)  shows that the barangay has a dominant young population consisting of age groups 1 to 19 years old. The broad – based pyramid resulted from a high fertility and mortality in the past.

Based on the figure above, the barangay has 9 children under 1 year old and 60 children 0-5 years old. Children 6-12 years old is composed of 88, these are the children in elementary years while there are only 64 members 13-16 years old in high school years. There are 125 members of the labor force.

Health and Nutrition

            The result of the survey in Bulala showed that there are 6 malnourished children in the Barangay which is lower in proportion compared to the benchmark. This is because of the intensive monitoring and campaign in terms of proper nutrition. There were no cases of child deaths below 5 and women who died due to pregnancy-related causes in the past twelve months. This can be attributed from the regular programs conducted by the Municipal Health Office such as regular check-up and immunization of pregnant women and monitoring of the health condition of children.

Housing

In Barangay Bulala, there were no households identified as living in makeshift houses and no households identified as informal settlers. Based on validation result, majority of the households owned their houses but with consent with the use of land; the land in the barangay is owned by a private entity.

Water and Sanitation

The water need of the locality is sourced from its own water system which serves the majority of the households in the barangay wherein 70% is accessing a Level II potable water supply. There are 76 households in the barangay without access to sanitary toilet facility which constitutes 34.86% of the total household.

Education

In the barangay, all of the children are attending elementary and only five (5) children are not attending high school with a total of five (5) children age 6-16 years old not attending school. As a result of discussion during validation, some of the children opted to work because of financial difficulty.

Peace and Order

Based on the result of the survey, there were no victims of crime recorded in the barangay. According to the Punong Barangay, this must be the result of the intensive surveillance of Barangay Tanods and Kagawad.