DAR allots P300-M to aid farmers during COVID19 pandemic

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has allotted PHP300 million to finance its ongoing project "The PaSSOver: ARBOld Move to Heal as One Deliverance of our ARBs from the Covid-19 Pandemic,” a project in response to the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act or Republic Act 11469, where the President Rodrigo Duterte directed all government agencies to provide, protect and promote the welfare of the people amid the COVID19 health crisis. Throughout the nation, there are thousands of CARP farmer-beneficiaries adversely affected by the COVID19 pandemic.

     Admittedly, the biggest and most important sector in the country affected by this crisis is the food service industry, the Philippines being a nation with a thriving agricultural backbone, the lockouts throughout Luzon (which later on expanded to some major provinces in Visayas and Mindanao) caused farmers and agricultural workers suddenly unable to produce, tend their farms, and market their products. It also resulted to laborers losing job opportunities resulting to massive loss of income.

     As the public were forced by the crisis to stay in their homes to protect themselves and their families, the local economy ground to a halt but expenses continue to pile up. Business establishments remain closed and some may never open up again. All of a sudden, the agri sector is experiencing the largest loss of income in human history due to the deadly and highly contagious COVID19 pandemic, putting a sudden stop to physical interactions and almost none on business transactions.

     According to DAR Secretary JohnR. Castriciones, the budget for the project will be taken from the realigned budget of the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development Sustainability Program (ARBDSP) and unobligated allotment from the different units of the DAR Support Services Office (SSO). The project aims to give essential support to ARBs for them to be able to perform their roles in ensuring food sufficiency in the country.

     The project intends to provide immediate and essential support services to men and women agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) to mitigate the impact of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) measures due to the pandemic and to address the demands affecting the agricultural sector even after the ECQ has been lifted or upon the start of the “new normal.”

The PaSSOver: ARBOld Move project will provide enable the ARBs, individually and collectively, to continue performing their roles as frontliners in ensuring food sufficiency for the nation. DAR is assisting the farmers in the distribution and delivery of agri products by issuing quarantine passes so they could pass through checkpoints in critical areas under ECQ.

     The Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBOs) will also be provided with farm inputs such as seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides, and farm tools to enable them to resume planting crops for continuous food supply. It will cover 7,000 hectares nationwide with 90,839 individual ARBs to benefit from the project. ARB identification cards (ARB IDs) are also being issued and distributed under the PaSSOver: ARBOld Move project. The ID cards are being given to identify ARBs and facilitate their access to the government's social amelioration programs (SAPs). As of April 24, a total of 77,119 ARB IDs have been distributed by the DAR.

     The project will also extend its support to 1,200 women ARBs nationwide by providing them with livelihood activities, especially in food production such as egg and poultry production, hog fattening, and similar activities based on their preferences and capabilities to ensure they have food on their tables and products to sell.

    According to DAR SSO Undersecretary Atty. Emily Padilla, “the project will also provide packages containing supplemental food, hygiene products and vitamins to ARB households. Each package will contain 4 kilos of rice, 4 canned sardines, 4 packs instant noodles, 2 pieces bath soap, 10 pieces face masks and a bottle of 50 pieces vitamin C. A total of 126,565 qualified ARBs will benefit from these packages. “Helping our ARBs will ensure that their agricultural production, livelihood and income will continue during this health crisis. It will also ensure sustained supply of adequate, affordable and safe food necessary for Filipino consumers even upon the 'new normal' will be implemented,"

     Meantime, in Cagayan province, the DAR Provincial Office personnel are presently going around different municipalities distributing initially the relief packs for agrarian reform farmer-beneficiaries, to be followed immediately with the distribution of farm inputs and livelihood kits, to help farmers get on and move on to the new normal. (Photos by: Mimi Atal-Mora)
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ARB management skills enhanced by DAR-CDA Partnership II

     The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Cagayan province is presently assisting 59 agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations (ARBOs) composed of more than forty agrarian reform beneficiaries’ cooperatives. One component of DAR’s assistance is the organizational management aspect composed of local capability building activities for the proper management of these farmers’ cooperatives by the Coop officers. This is being undertaken in partnership with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).

   Being the lead agency in cooperative development, the Cooperative Development Authority provides technical assistance to the ARB Cooperatives which include trainings, pre-registration seminars, mentoring, coaching, consultancy, bookkeeping, accounting, auditing, assistance on regulatory requirements, etc. The CDA also provides assistance for the rehabilitation of agrarian reform beneficiaries’ cooperatives.

     To strengthen this joint efforts, the DAR and the CDA entered into a Memorandum of Agreement renewing their respective commitments to promote and strengthen the ARB cooperatives and to ensure the sustainability of the cooperative enterprise activities.  The program, which is dubbed as DAR-CDA Partnership II, intends to put in place a capacity development (CAPDEV) initiative, among others, to improve service delivery to their members and positively giving impact to their business performance and operations.

   For the DAR Provincial Office of Cagayan, most of the ARBO-cooperatives have already completed the mandatory trainings for cooperatives under the partnership except for the newly organized cooperatives and the ARB organizations/associations who have recently decided to convert into agrarian reform beneficiaries’ cooperatives who need to undergo trainings on cooperative operation and management.

    These capability building activities and enterprise management trainings are significantly important at present because these ARBOs in Cagayan are recipients of farm machineries such as hand-tractors, mechanical tillers, four-wheel drive tractors, combine harvesters, hauling trucks, etc. As such, it is essential that they are equipped with the knowledge and capacities to operate these multi-million peso assets into a viable income generating business enterprises for their cooperatives.

    The present government under the Duterte Administration has made it possible for viable ARB cooperatives to access farm machineries to maximize farm productivity pursuant to the food security program and increase their income to counter the adverse effects of climate change.

   The Memorandum of Agreement seeks to renew DAR and CDA’s commitment to develop functional agrarian reform cooperatives managing profitable and sustainable enterprises in order to better serve their members and contribute in improving the quality of life of ARBs, their household and rural women. Generally, it aims to support the government’s program of reducing poverty through cooperatives.

Two Cagayan (Valley) OFWs rescued from abusive employers in Saudi Arabia

TUGUEGARAO CITY, CAGAYAN. February 14, 2018 - Two more Oversees Filipino Workers, Jenalyn Tumbali of Penablanca, Cagayan and Rovelyn Orlanda from Baggao, Cagayan were rescued from their abusive employers in Saudi Arabia after posting their urgent calls for help seen by their relatives and friends on social media site Facebook. They immediately sought the intervention of Kilusang Pagbabago-Region 2 on its Facebook page.

Both OFWs’ plight and cries for help were urgently brought to the attention of the Kilusang Pagbabago-Cagayan Valley through Facebook. Upon seeing their posts, KP-Cagayan Valley immediately brought their requests for assistance to the Oversees Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Regional Office in Tuguegarao City who acted promptly by immediately coordinating with the concerned offices and institutions like the Philippine Embassy and the recruitment agency resulting to the rescue and abrupt repatriation of the distressed OFWs who were victims of maltreatment in Saudi Arabia.

After  merely seventy-two hours when KP-Cagayan Valley acted on the FB posts, OFW Jenalyn Tumbali was able to post on her Facebook page that her flight to Manila will be on February 14, 2018 after Philippine authorities were able to legally arrange the necessary activities to facilitate her return to Manila. Sources indicate that OFW Rovelyn Orlando's case is now being addressed by Philippine officials in Saudi Arabia.  The story was followed through radio stations Bombo Radyo and Radyo Ng Bayan.

The Kilusang Pagbabago (KP) is a purely volunteer movement for a REAL CHANGE, inspired by the President Duterte’s call, and by the persevering effort of Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco to consolidate and institutionalize active citizens participation in governance, the formation of Kilusang Pagbabago is being spearheaded by most of the core members of Duterte’s campaign teams in various regions during the presidential election campaign period.

The Kilusang Pagbabago can be described as the "Couterpart-Citizens-Extension" of the Duterte government’s desire to effect real social change because it professes to be “for the helpless, hopeless, defenseless” and vows to make “tinud- anay nga kausaban (REAL CHANGE)" in politics, economics, military, culture and foreign relations. It is directly linked to the Office of the Cabinet Secretary through the Office of Participatory Governance (OPG) in Malacanang.

During the height of the crisis, the families of the OFWs were assisted at OWWA-Region 2 by Vircy Tamayao, Head of Program and Services; Juvilyn Anns Gumabay, Welfare Case Officer; Luzviminda Tumaliuan, Education and Training Unit;  and Pilipina Dino, Regional Director. Also present at the OWWA office were Kilusang Pagbabago-Cagayan Valley officers - Romulo Gabertan-KP Regional Coordinator; Nap Baltazar-KP Program Director; and Nathaniel Gumangan, KP-PRO. (Photos courtesy of Nathaniel Gumangan, PRO, KP-Cagayan Valley)

Jenelyn Tumbali from Penablanca, Cagayan is a domestic helper in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Roverlyn Orlanda, from Baggao, Cagayan initially sought help on social media Facebook page when relatives and friends saw her posts on Facebook. The latter immediately sought help through Kilusang Pagbabago-Cagayan Valley.

KP -Cagayan Valley officials immediately accompanied the OWFs' relatives to OWWA Region 2 for help.

KP-Cagayan Valley and OWWA Region 2 officials successfully coordinated with the concerned agencies resulting to the rescue of the abused OFWs.

Coming home finally....