The students were all beaming with pride as they
proudly greeted guests arriving at their campus. They were all wearing blue
shirts with matching native hats. The weather was neither sunny nor gloomy and
the atmosphere was festive. It was their graduation day and they were all
ecstatic at the prospect of receiving their certificates of graduation. It had
the looks and mood of a school graduation except that the students were clad in
farming attires rather than black or white togas, and the campus was in the
midst of grassland converted into a farm-school at Sitio Muscovado in Brgy.
Poblacion, Toboso Negros Occidental.
It was a Harvest Festival. Assorted vegetables,
green and leafy ones, were on display at the makeshift display stands fashioned
out of bamboos and other native materials. The bitter gourds, white gourds,
lettuce, squash, peppers, water spinach (upland kangkong), string beans, okras, and eggplants tempted the guests to take home some. The
watermelons and honeydews were as mouth-watering. And they were all organically
produced by the students in the self-styled “Wellness Farm”.
The farmer-students comprise the 164 participants of
the Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan Organic
Farming Training Program- a 12 week farmers’ (and aspiring farmers)
training jointly conducted by the SM Foundation Inc., Department of
Agriculture, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Harbest Agribusiness
Corporation, Provincial Government of Negros Occidental, Local Government Unit
of Toboso, and the Philippine Army’s 303rd Brigade and 62nd
Infantry Battalion. It aims to help local farmers improve and increase their
productivity and income by conducting training on various farming techniques.
The training includes the application of modern farming methods and technology.
It also aims to promote organic farming particularly on the use of organic
pesticides and fertilizers among others.
Benjamin Buenavista, a resident of Brgy Salamanca,
Toboso and one of the students of who completed the three-month program said he
was elated with his newfound skills on organic farming. While still a student,
he has already started planting his own garden with a variety of vegetables
including bell peppers. Buenavista, a widower and an Agrarian Reform
Beneficiary (ARB), said he was thankful for the KSK program and he plans to put
up a cooperative back in his community so that he would be able to use and
impart to others what he has learned from the training. He said some of his
neighbors were regretful for failing to join the training after he told them of
its benefits. There originally 208 of them when the program
started but others dropped-out along the way.
Davien Pation, the principal trainer and technician
from Harbest said the training program consisted mainly of short lectures and
focused on actual or hands-on training. With the help of the Municipal
Agriculture Office (MAO) and LGU, they converted a half-hectare of grassland
owned by the Municipal Government of Toboso into a field
school where they conducted group-based learning process effectively applying Benjamin
Franklin’s famous words-“tell
me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn“. Pation said it made the students more responsive as it was also an
interactive learning experience. The class met every Wednesday for 12 consecutive weeks.
Collaborative
effort
The program was a collaborative effort of different
organizations. SMFI provided for all funding requirements for the training and tapped Harbest Agribusiness Corporation for the materials
to include seeds, fertilizers and other farm inputs. Farm
technicians who served as the students’ instructors were also provided by Harbest. The Department of
Agriculture through the MAO and the LGU provide technical assistance, training
venue and the actual demo- farm used for the training. The LGU together with the Barangay Councils also helped in
providing ample water supply, even occasionally tapping the services of the
fire department for that purpose. It also provided transportation assistance to
the students who came from different communities of the municipalities of
Toboso and Calatrava, and City of Escalante.
On the other hand, the SMFI which represents the
country’s biggest chain of malls and supermarkets including the Hypermart and Supermart
is the program’s market arm. The foundation assured marketing assistance to successful
farmers who graduated from KSK if they opt to enter into commercial vegetable
production. Ms. Cristie Angeles of SMFI and the KSK Project Director noted the
lack of vegetable supplies in the public markets of the municipalities and city
mentioned and even in the neighboring towns. She said she hopes that with the program,
there would be a renewed vigor for local vegetable farmers to produce quality
vegetables for the local markets. She also said that locally produced
vegetables should take the place of vegetables brought in from farther areas
noting that it would significantly help the local economy.
Guv pledges
help
The culmination of the training was highlighted by
the presence of Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr., Mayor Richard Jaojoco of Toboso,
Col. Jon Aying of 303rd Brigade and Maj. Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero
of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. Governor Marañon exalted the
sponsors and organizers for coming up with the program which he said will
inspire Negrenses to appreciate and embrace farming as a means to better one’s
socio-economic condition. He even said a farmer can earn as much as 500,000
pesos for every hectare of land if he knows how to use it well. He also
pleaded with the graduates to redeem the lands they have acquired through the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) which have been pawned to others for a meager
amount and plant vegetables instead. He promised help to those who will engage
in vegetable farming as he sampled a slice of watermelon harvested from the
farm.
Farmer-soldiers
Meanwhile, also noticeable among the graduates were
a handful of soldier-farmers who trained and at the same time assisted the
students throughout the duration of the program. Col. Jon Aying, the man behind
the Negros Occidental Provincial Wellness Program and the Wellness Farm concept
was all smiles when he said the soldiers were part of a special team of the Army
who specializes in Bayanihan activities. Colonel Aying who is a passionate
farmer himself said their job was to assist communities in resolving basic
issues affecting households and communities such as hunger and poverty by
working closely with different stakeholders. They are immersed in far-flung
communities where they represent the government and serve as the bridge between
the communities and service providers such as Department of Agrarian Reform
(DAR), DA and DSWD. During the KSK training, they had to fetch drums and drums
of water every day to water the plants since the students only went there once
a week. “We stayed near the farm during the last 3 months to secure the
students and at the same time help them in their training. We too learned a lot
from the program”, one of young soldiers said. “I will consider farming once I
retire. I think it has lots of potential”, another soldier retorted in
Hiligaynon.
Lt. Col. Rommel Cordova, the Commanding Officer of
62nd IB who oversaw the entire program, said that aside from the
manpower assistance, his battalion also provided vehicles and fuel for
transporting the students to and from their respective barangays every time
they had classes. They also gave free lunch for the trainees all of whom came
from poor families. Majority of the participants volunteered to join the
program after they attended the Community Development Planning conducted by the
Provincial Peace, Integration and Development Unit (ProPIDU) a few months ago.
CDP stemmed out from the participatory rural appraisal conducted to assess a
community’s needs, issues and concerns with the active involvement of the
residents themselves.
Buyers’ forum
Angeles who has been with the foundation for 18
years, encouraged the graduates to dream, and dream big just like SM’s founder,
Henry Sy who was able to transform a shoe retail store into the country’s
biggest store. Arsenio Barcelona, a proud Negrense and President of HARBEST
challenged his ‘kababayans’ to make their lands productive and become self-sufficient.
He lamented at how lands are not being optimized because farmers lack knowledge
on farming techniques.
Angeles
also facilitated a buyer’s forum together with the SM Food Group.
Representatives from the said group who came all the way from their main office
in Manila gave informative talks on marketing techniques and SM’s vegetable
requirements. In Negros Occidental alone, they have several stores that need
local vegetable suppliers to cater to their needs, they said. The forum was
highlighted by the distribution of gift packs and fun games led by SMFI staff. The
Provincial Health Office also conducted free medical consultation and check-up.
Pledge for
Peace
During
the graduation ceremony, the participants declared themselves as members of
peace communities and pledged an oath to non-violence. They are now part of a
growing number of peace communities all over Negros Occidental who have
committed themselves to the pursuit of peace. Mayor Jaojoco led the oath-taking
and the signing of the declaration of the peace communities.
Educational
Tour
The following day, the new graduates were brought
to Bacolod City for a special tour of the Provincial Capitol Complex, SM
Supermarket, Bacolod Central Market and Mambukal Resort. They also toured the
Army’s Headquarters in Brgy. Minoyan, Murcia where the Negros First-Army
Wellness Farm is located. There were met by former rebels who are now employed
as farm assistants. Aside from providing alternative source of livelihood for
former rebels, the said farm also provides psychosocial healing for their
families to help them return to the mainstream society.
“We are here to make them feel that they are not
left behind or neglected by our government. We will never run out of new
approaches to help in making their lives better. This is our humble
contribution to winning the peace in Negros”, Colonel Aying said.
