Abogado ti Mannalon: The Superheroes of the Farmlands

CAGAYAN VALLEY, PHILIPPINES - Move over, courtroom dramas and superhero capes, because out in the rice fields, sugarcane farms, and rolling hills of Region II, a new kind of hero is rising: the Abogado ti Mannalon!

Yes, you heard it right! They’re not wielding swords or flying through the skies, but they are armed with laws, love for the land, and a deep passion for justice. The "Abogado ti Mannalon", which proudly means "lawyer of the farmer" in Ilocano, is here to fight for the rights of our hardworking farmers.

This program was strengthened when the Department of Agrarian Reform Region 02 (DAR RO2), Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)-Cagayan Chapter, Department of Justice - National Prosecution Service (DOJ NPS 02), and Tuguegarao Young Lawyers Initiative (TYLI) entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on 25 June 2025 at The Orient, Caggay, Tuguegarao City.

🎯 What’s the Mission?

Under the banner of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), this program brings free legal aid directly to farmers, whether it’s land disputes, tenancy issues, fake land titles, or confusing contracts. These lawyers aren't sitting behind fancy desks all day, they’re on the ground, literally meeting farmers in barangay halls, under mango trees, and even beside carabaos!

💬 “Adda tulong kadakami!"

("There's help for us!") says Mang Ernesto, a tenant farmer from Cagayan province. For the first time, he understands his rights, thanks to an Abogado ti Mannalon who explained the law in Ilocano, not in legalese! “Ti abogado ket kasla kaduak a makidanggay!” ("The lawyer is like my companion in the fight!") he beams.

🌟 Why It Matters

Farming feeds the nation—but many farmers don’t know their rights, or can’t afford a lawyer. With Abogado ti Mannalon, justice is no longer a luxury—it’s a right, planted firmly in the soil of social justice.

🚜 Field Office or Field Work?

These legal eagles don’t just work behind desks, they visit sitios and far-flung barangays, giving lectures, holding consultations, and even mediating conflicts. They're like legal "caravans," rolling into towns to sow seeds of hope.

So next time you pass a rice paddy, remember: somewhere out there, a real-life legal hero is helping a farmer stand tall.

👨‍🌾💼 Abogado ti Mannalon: Para iti Mannalon, Para iti Pagilian!

(Lawyers for the farmers, for the nation!)

DOST, DAR, DA, et. al., sign Convergence MOU

SMX Convention Center. On the occasion of the celebration of the National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) at the SMX Convention Center in Manila, the cabinet secretaries (and  undersecretaries) from the Departmentof Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Departmentof Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Social Welfare and Development and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) met and signed today a Convergence Memorandum of Understanding on Community-Based Sustainable Livelihood and Development Enterprises in the Countryside.

The Memorandum of Understanding on Convergence would move together the agencies involved and unite their efforts and activities with DOST to provide a combination of multiple services, programs, projects, technologies, and provide access to other developmental interventions that will promote sustainable development and access to programs such as DOST’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SET-UP), among others. The DOST SET-UP is a more focused program of assistance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). SET-UP is a nationwide strategy to encourage and assist SMEs to adopt technological innovations to improve their operations and thus boost their productivity and competitiveness.           This is of special interest to the DAR's agrarian reform communities (ARCs) project where agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) are transforming themselves into being farmer-entrepreneurs and agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations (ARBOs) are now engaging into economies of scale through modernization under the DAR-ARCCESS program and the block sugar farming, among others. 

            This year’s NSTW theme is “Science, Technology and Innovation: The Road to a Smarter Philippines,” emphasizes the role of science and technology in improving the peoples’ future through DOST’s projects and services that will further socio-economic development through DOST’s technologies such as the Advance Materials Testing Laboratory (ADMATEL) which is the testing facility for the nation’s semiconductor industry; Automated GuidewayTransit (AGT) system (currently in use at UP-Diliman), an alternative transportation system; PROJECT NOAH as a tool to address climate change; DOST’s Certified Seed Production Program for the agricultural sector;  and other Internet Communication Technology (ICT) driven tools to make the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry more competitive.

The NSTW runs from July 23-27, 2013 (Tuesday until Saturday) at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City and will showcase the latest innovations, interventions and inventions of Filipino scientists, engineers and various works by the entire scientific community. /christiandsales