Pulilan Butterfly Haven: The Founder

The heart and soul of the Haven is its founder, Mrs. Estelita A. Caleon-Aguirre.

Blessed with boundless creative energy and a passionate desire to champion the cause of public service she describes herself, with sypical modesty, as a “”Certified Public Accountant by profession, a Deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue by designation, and a poetess by avocation.”” She loves to hear herself described as a “”beautiful”” person, but she will tell you that indeed, it is a beauty not seen in physical attributes, but an inner beauty, the kind that comes from the heart, the kind that lasts and never fades.

After placing 10th in the 1964 CPA Board Examinations, she went on to build a career spanning thirty-five years in public service, and was hailed in 1997 as the Philippines’ Civil Service Commission’s Dangal ng Bayan (Pride of the Motherhood) Award for Ethical Behavior, all the while managing to raise a family of four beautiful children, and running a Foundation that grants scholarships to gifted but undeprivileged children.

She has traveled the world on various scholarship grants that she believes have truly enriched her knowledge and expertise, yet for her, there is no place that can hope to equal the pastoral charm of her hometown of Pulilan, in historic Bulacan. A nature-lover at heart, she never fails to extol the need to safeguard the environment, a conviction that prompted her to create in her ancestral property the ecological sanctuary that is the Pulilan Butterfly Haven, now fast becoming one of Bulacan’s favorite tourist destinations.

A true lover of art and beauty, however, she is also an accomplished poetess, having published two volumes of poetry, Abutin mo ang Bituin (Reach for the Stars), and Kay Sarap Mabuhay (Living is Wonderful), detailing in the musical cadences of her native Pilipino her idyllic childhood in rural Bulacan, and her many colorful experiences as a daughter and a sister, and as a young wife and mother. She was married to Pulilan’s late Vice Mayor Honorato C. Aguirre, and believes the greatest treasures of her life to be their four children and three grandaughters and the 127 young scholars of her Foundation.

Weekends will surely find her at the Haven, relaxing amongst her orchids, watching for emerging butterflies, or oftentimes conducting one of the guided tours herself! Far from the pressures of work and city life, she finds in her delicate charges – and in their unchanging cycle of rebirth and renewal – the timeless of hope and faith in the wisdom of a loving Creator.

Today, the Haven she created is one of the most popular tourst destinations in Bulacan Province. To ensure sustainability of the Haven in the decades to come, and that it shall continue to enchant many more generations of Filipinos, Mrs. Aguirre moved for its registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a family corporation in 2002. The baton of its management then passed on to her son, Honorato Jr., who now serves as the Haven’s President and General Manager.

Mrs. Aguirre is now Chairman Emeritus of the Haven’s Board of Directors. She continues to be the guiding light and inspiration behind the Haven;s timeless vision of natural beauty and grace.