Whether it was plain coincidence or what not, the point here is that is Alburquerque far behind as Bohol 's butterfly capital? Looking back to last week's issue of the Post where a one spread ad chronicled the saga of Alburquerque in the quest for a place in the butterfly industry map of the Philippines, it came as a big surprise to most Alburanons, chief of them Mayor Elfren Tungol, that the following day a featured article about butterflies appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Hence, the question of coincidence. Coincidence (the PDI publication, that is) or not, what is important is that Albur is fast becoming the butterfly capital of Bohol in the same manner that Marinduque is the butterfly capital of the Philippines .

The story of Marinduque as the butterfly capital of the Philippines as appearing in the May 29 issue of the PDI told of the province's contribution to the country's butterfly and pupa exports. The figure cited is 85%. The article also cited among others that more than three-fourths of the butterfly breeders nationwide are based in Marinduque. It also said that butterfly farming started only recently but is fast becoming an international growth industry with estimates of P100 million worth of Philippine exports.

In the case of Albur's butterfly culture, it started to gain prominence when it opened its own butterfly garden at the Albur Tourist Center. Apparently taking the emerging industry seriously, Mayor Tungol invited all of the town's 11 barangay captains Friday to spread the gospel of butterfly breeding.

For starters, Albur's 11 barangays will have its own mini-enclosures for purposes of propagating the culture in the barangays. When the barangay people shall have discovered butterfly eggs, they shall be allowed to grow in the mini enclosures. When they reach into larvae stages, they will be transferred to the Albur Butterfly Dome. At least three butterfly species will be distributed to each barangay for a start.

Like the Marinduque model, what is evolving in Albur is a livelihood project that will eventually metamorphose into a cottage industry. The revenue raising target of Albur is only P10 million by 2007 out of the sale of the processing of dead stocks into finished products like laminated and framed crafts. This is on the basis of the reality that the lifespan of butterflies is from 45 to 60 days. According to the same PDI feature story, in a study made in 2002 by three undergraduate students from the Marinduque State College, they indicated a positive outlook for the butterfly industry of the province. According to their study, the industry generated an estimated sale of about P100 million from export of pupa and dead stocks by exporters in Marinduque in 2001.

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