10 September 2014
Fidela Bugarin Salvador fondly known as Delle was born on March 23, 1964 in Macarang, Mangatarem, Pangasinan to Juan Bugarin, a farmer, and Celedonia Valle. She graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the Technological Institute of the Philippines in 1985. She was a licensed civil engineer and a member of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers.
She was a loving wife and mother to three children.
As a Church Worker
Engr. Delle was an active church member of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) since her youth. She served as the Christian Youth Fellowship President of the Central Luzon Conference, and served for two terms as commissioner of the UCCP General Assembly’s Commission on Christian Stewardship and Resource Development. As a lay leader, she joined the God’s Redemption Alive in the Society as Yeast for Action (GRASYA) reaching out to the Christian youth in Baguio in 1988 to 1990. Her faith deepened as she immersed in theological reflections through the Bible-in-Context and the Third Look at Jesus seminars. Her experience with the church people expanded through the Cordillera Ecumenical Movement for Action and Transformation (CEMAT) from 1990 to 1995. She brought the people’s issues of poverty and exploitation to the attention of the church people believing that the Church is for the Life of the World. Through the Clergy Laity Formation Program – Northern Luzon, she was exposed to the plight of the peasants in Cagayan Valley joining a fact finding mission in San Mariano, Isabela and later responding to the Marag Valley Campaign in 1991-1993 against militarization in Cagayan and Kalinga provinces.
As a Community Organizer
From 1996-2003, Delle worked with the Women Workers Program (WWP) and Mining Communities Development Center (MCDC) as a community organizer in the mining communities of Itogon, Benguet. This was the time when the Itogon people’s struggle against the destructive open pit mining operations of Benguet Corporation was ongoing. She was assigned to organize mainly in Barangay Ucab, but she also worked in other communities of Itogon and Tuba. She and other organizers worked together to raise social awareness, conduct education and trainings, help organize and setup people’s organizations and mobilize the community people around the issue of destructive large-scale mining and megadams. She helped organize the Itogon Inter-Barangay Alliance, Begnas Women’s Alliance and the Anti-Open Pit Mining Kids, which were at the forefront of the people’s struggle. She also helped bring in other sectors such as professionals and church people to support the anti-open pit mining and anti-San Roque dam campaign.
Delle then went on to work with Alyansa dagiti Pesante ti Taeng Kordilyera (APIT-Tako) from 2003-2008. She continued her work organizing poor peasants in different communities of Benguet and also did research on various issues facing the people. She conducted trainings and helped organize forums in communities that were threatened by destructive large-scale mining. She also helped educate small-scale miners on proper practices and safety measures.
As a Development Worker
From 2009-2010, Delle worked with Regional Development Center – Katinnulong dagiti Umili ti Amianan (Kaduami –Regional Development Center – Northern Luzon) under their Social Enterprise Product Development Program (SEPDP). She worked to popularize biofertilizer and re-introduce traditional varieties of crops to help improve the livelihoods of the communities where she worked.
In 2010, supertyphoons Ondoy and Pepeng caused widespread damage across the Cordillera Region. Being a highly capable engineer, she was tapped by CorDisRDS to implement their response and livelihood programs for the affected communities. She rejoined CorDisRDS and up until 2013 implemented the Philippine Tropical Cyclone Emergency Response Project (PTCERP) and Philippine Tropical Cyclone Shelter and Livelihood Response Project (PTCSLRP). Among the services extended to disaster-stricken communities were shelter projects, irrigations systems, distribution of farm tools and many others. One of her great achievements during this time was providing shelters to affected families in Bokod, Benguet and Bontoc, Mt. Province.
After her time with CorDisRDS came to an end she served as a secretariat member of Amianan Salakniban or Defend the North Alliance, a broad federation of numerous environmental, church and people’s organizations in the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Cordillera Administrative Regions. She was also a member of Tawid Consulting Services Inc. Delle continued to work with communities as a volunteer staff for the Center for Development Programs (CDPC) network of NGOs.
Delle was in Lacub, Abra to conduct monitoring and evaluation of previously implemented socio-economic projects with CorDisRDS and CDPC as part of her previous contract.
Prepared by:
Cordillera Disaster Response and Development Services Inc.
CPA Philippines 