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FOR THE FIRST TIME, SCHOOL TAPS RUBBER TREES;

Fpasiwen

Last June 2009, St. Francis High School in South Upi, Maguindanao and representatives from its surrounding communities made the first tapping of rubber trees within its 3-hectare property that were planted in 2001 under Project TREES [Tropical Forest Regeneration for Environmental and Economic Sustainability] of the Diocese of Southern Philippines. About a hundred trees constituted the first batch tapped for latex, which is the raw material for the manufacture of rubber. It is expected that the tapping will go on for the next 30 years, and will bring income to the school as well as to its partner-communities within the vicinity. According to a Philippine agricultural website, rubber trees can generate income averaging P220,000 per year per hectare.

EMPOWERED WOMEN WORKING THROUGH TRADITION:

Fpasiwen

Situated in North Upi, Maguindanao, Barangay Ganassi is one of the farthest communities of the municipality. It’s long and winding up-bound road is accessible by four-wheeled vehicles and motorcycles. But during rainy seasons, even four wheelers cannot enter the community limiting transportation to motorcycles. Most of the residents though walk to town and to school down the very muddy road. All the residents are Muslim.

Ormina Acob, the president of the Bayanan Women’s Organization lived in this community for almost 20 years now. Born and raised as an Ilongga, she was used to the Christian way of life but when she married a Muslim in 1983, she converted to Islam. Later widowed with two children, she re-married a Ganassi native in 1992 and moved to this community. Like most of their community mates, they planted corn as their main livelihood.

Namon-ao, Kapangan

by: F. Pasiwen

“My hands are not as thick as before because of the blisters and my back does not ache that much anymore ” came the happy comment from Manang Carmen Bistolio, one of the beneficiaries of the rice mill and warehouse in Namon-ao, Gadang, Kapangan. With seven children to feed and no educational degree to use for employment, Carmen and her husband Esteban work very hard in the fields because it is the only source of income for them.

THE DEL PILAR STORY

by: Penny Ann Cayap

Barangay Marcelo H. Del Pilar, named after a propagandist-hero in the revolutionary struggle against Spanish colonization of the Philippines more than a century ago, is located in the municipality of Alicia, Isabela province. It is home to 987 households or 3,226 individuals, most of whom are farmers owning small landholdings, ranging from 1 to 5 hectares.

WEAVING THEIR WAY OUT OF POVERTY

Chris Baguiwan, Community Development Worker.

Barangay Balangao is nestled in a rugged mountain slope that can be viewed from Poblacion Natonin. It is a testament to the level of development in the area that a road supposedly connecting it to the Poblacion is not passable by any motor vehicle, hence is reachable only by an hour's hike.

Like most in the hinterland communities of Mountain Province, the people of Balangao survive on a hand-to-mouth produce from farming that continues to make use of crude tools and implements and back-breaking manual work from sunrise to sundown. While it is situated amidst lush vegetation with a number of mountain springs, it had, for a long time, a problem in accessing potable water supply. It had government built water system but, like many public works that are contracted out, its output was insufficient and was sourced from the nearest creek just above the community that was unsafe and which uses an open tank where frigs and even snakes often dwell. Water-borne diseases commonly afflicted the people, especially the children.

FOR THE FIRST TIME, SCHOOL TAPS RUBBER TREES;

EMPOWERED WOMEN WORKING THROUGH TRADITION:

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