Gawad Kalinga Villages is a concept that has breathed a life of its own. Starting as a project of well-meaning citizens led by the Couples for Christ, it has now its own management structure and lately its projects have geometrically expanded because of the support from all over the world.
But one major problem that faces the leadership of all local GK projects is the dislocation of the beneficiaries and the need for food to sustain them in the early phases of their adjustments. Some leaders address this by continued food support and dole-outs, sometimes misinterpreted by the beneficiaries to the point of lethargy where they no longer strive to earn and provide for their families’ food and other needs.
The leadership of the local GK and the local government of Barotac Viejo in Iloilo Province realized this early. Although the majority of the beneficiaries came from the nearby barangay of San Geronimo, the village is located some two kilometers from the center and there is a big waste of time traveling from their new homes to their place of work, mostly as laborers of the rice, corn and sugarcane farms.
The village was once planted to sugarcane. The municipal government of Barotac Viejo led by Mayor Raul “Boboy” C. Tupas, purchased the land as their counterpart when the GK National Secretariat offered to build a village of 130 houses. The long term use of the land for sugarcane, has practically rendered the land infertile. The area was also bare of trees since sugarcane needs full sunlight to achieve high yield.
Being the poorest of the poor, there are many cases of malnutrition among the beneficiaries and their children. Early on, Mayor Boboy Tupas realized this dilemma and egged his technical people to find ways to solve this problem. A rapid assessment of the growing village showed that the villagers’ concept of beautifying their homes is to plant ornamentals. But they went as far as the town center, 5 kilometers away, to buy their vegetables and other staples.
So, Mayor Boboy Tupas discussed to the community and the technicians of the Agriculture Office, the models he observed in some urban areas he visited. He said that vegetables can be planted almost anywhere and even the landscaping can be made out of the vegetables and other food crops. So the community responded and started to remove their ornamentals, mostly euphorbias, and replaced them with vegetables.
The vacant lots are also being made productive. A beneficiary proudly told the author that she has already earned almost P10,000.00 in the less than one year that they relocated in the village. Her cadios (pigeon peas) earned her not less than P2,000.00 sometime in December. Her glutinous corn planted in about 500 sq. meters, was bought by a trader at P1,500.00 as a standing crop for sale as green corn in the bus terminal of Barotac Viejo. She earns daily from her vegetable patch planted to eggplant, saluyot (corchurus spp.), camote (sweet potato), upland kangkong, gabi (taro) and ampalaya.
Mr. Jesus Balila, Municipal Agriculturist, says that his office is committed to help the beneficiaries as they belong to the least privileged sector of farm workers. Now that they have their homes, they are now focused on providing a better life to their families. By having a more stable livelihood, the parents can send their children to school. His office is now helping them by teaching and guiding them in organic farming technologies and intensive farming systems so that even in a small area, they are able to earn enough.
“We still have many things to do”, says Mayor Boboy Tupas. “We have now 32 houses and will eventually have 135 in all. This means a working force of about 250 or even more. We have to find ways to provide a sustainable livelihood for all of them. One of our mandate in the Local Government Code is to provide economic opportunities for our constituents and more than others, these beneficiaries belonging to the poorest of the poor needs our help”.
“We have already sourced some funds for livelihood from our friends here and abroad. But we are looking to the right mix of projects that will ensure sustainability so that the seed money will become their foundation for a bright future. We have in mind agri-based processing like the banana chips, korniks and other food processing ventures. We have tapped the Central Philippine University in Iloilo City, thru their Appropriate Technology Center to provide us with technologies to use rice hull as a source of fuel. We have also tapped other government agencies for new and appropriate technologies in processing”, thus said Mayor Tupas.
From the looks of it, the beneficiaries of the Gawad Kalinga Village in Barotac Viejo look forward to a really bright future!
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