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life of Governor Bulut has been characterized by numerous
milestones and achievements that have, through the years,
impacted heavily and positively on the lives of the Iapayaos,
achievements that now underline the course of an undeveloped
province of Apayao towards development, and more importantly
the destiny of the Iapayaos as a race, as a people.
“Every daunting task presents opportunities, it is just
a matter of finding means on how to get past existing limitations
to maximize such opportunities for advancement,” He
aptly says of his philosophy for success, one thing that has
been evident on how he manages to score milestones after milestone
in his colorful 68 years of existence.
As a young kid born to a poor family in Butao, Calanasan,
Apayao on May 18, 1939, he had to embrace to afford himself
a modest preparatory education notwithstanding the odds he
faced including years of daily rigorous treks and river crossing
to and from school. His leadership skills first came to be
noticed when he was in college, pursuing a degree in Agriculture
at the then Mountain State College, now the Benguet State
University. On his last year, he was elected President of
the school’s student council, where he effectively took
on the task of working out with the school administration
programs aimed at improving the welfare of students, and providing
them better learning opportunities.
Such preoccupation may have weighed heavily on his decision
to pursue a teaching career back in Apayao as soon as he finished
college. His effectiveness as a teacher and personal charisma
did not escape his co-teachers, and soon he and a co-teacher,
Ms. Leonora Cayaba contracted a marriage that would net them
three children, Leah (now the Calanasan Mayor), Brenda Lee
and now Congressman Elias C. Bulut, Jr.
A born-leader that he was and one who always put premium on
helping others improve their lives, he saw more opportunities
to enable him to do just that if he could be involved directly
in governance of his hometown. Thus, he sacrificed a possible
promotion as supervisor to run for Mayor in Calanasan. Subsequently,
he handily won over the incumbent, signaling a new era for
the development of Calanasan and its people. He would go on
to lead Calanasan for twenty years earning him numerous citations
including a presidential merit award personally handed to
him by then President Corazon C. Aquino, for his invaluable
contribution in the anti-insurgency campaign back in the early
90s.
What started as a discussion group amongst Apayao officials,
he led the Apayao Solidarity Movement, the first ever formalization
of the clamor for the provincehood for Apayao. Arguing that
prospects for the development of Apayao could only be realized
if it became a separate province, with the people thereat
being able to determine and chart their own development, the
group led by the governor worked out various plans and contingencies
on how to bring to the attention of appropriate authorities
the plight of then Apayao-sub province and the incessant clamor
for its provincehood and self-determination. With the consistent
defeat of such initiative, the group thought that the surest
way to realize such dream of a provincehood was a legislation
in Congress, and that then Mayor Bulut of Calanasan will be
pitted against then incumbent Congressman William Claver,
which he will later on beat handily during the 1992 national
and local elections.
Thus, the Governor would start his nine-year term as a Congressman
in 1992 with the separation of Kalinga-Apayao into two provinces
of Apayao and Kalinga as his main priority. Three years of
hard work characterized by intense lobbying and representations
with concerned government agencies and consultations with
the different municipalities, paid off with the enactment
into law on February 14, 1995 of Republic Act 7878 providing
for the conversion of the sub-province of Apayao and Kalinga
into two separate provinces, in the process immortalizing
then Congressman Bulut as the Father of Apayao.
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