Aside from bringing food to the table, the farmers of Brgy. Cawayanin Ibaba in Catanauan, Quezon also gave a bright future for their community. In 2013, they volunteered for the Kalahi-CIDSS electrification sub-project, which now brought light to 30 households residing in the area. These farmers-volunteers also tapped other government agency to implement the Sitio Electrification Program in their community which aims to provide the whole barangay with complete electric supply this 2015.
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OPPORTUNITIES LIT UP FOR THE COMMUNITY
The farmers of Brgy. Cawayanin Ibaba in Catanauan, Quezon hastily roll down their sleeves as the sun starts to set.
“Lahat ay hinahabol ang liwanag hanggang makauwi sa bahay. Nakakatakot kasing maglakad kapag gabi na dahil sobrang dilim at wala naman kaming ilaw sa lugar,” shared 64-year old Felix de Gala, a farmer and resident in the community.
More than half of Brgy. Cawayanin Ibaba’s land area is blessed with hectares of rice fields, corn, coconut, and other agricultural crops. The farmers enjoy the bountiful harvests at day but worry at night since stealing of agricultural products is typical in their area.
“Dahil walang ilaw at madilim, madalas kaming manakawan ng ani. Minsan, kahit mga alaga naming baboy ninanakaw. Ang hirap na nga ng buhay, mawawalan ka pa ng pagkakakitaan,” Felix shared in frustration.
But all these problems fade when light came in their barangay.
The light of hope
In 2013, the DSWD project Kalahi-CIDSS PAMANA assisted the electrification sub-project of Brgy. Cawayanin Ibaba. Kalahi-CIDSS PAMANA or Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan aims to empower conflict-affected barangays in the planning, decision-making and implementation of need-responsive projects that would hasten the delivery of social services and normalize the community’s living condition.
Felix became the chairperson of the electrification sub-project. He was given advice that it is hard to complete the needed permits and documents from the electric distributor before the community could actually implement the sub-project. But he was still willing to pursue it even if it would take a lot of trips to the distributor’s office in the municipality of Pitogo, which is 50 kilometers away from Catanauan.
“Minsan, dukot bulsa na talaga para sa pamasahe namin papuntang Pitogo. Pero iniisip ko na lang na malaki naman ang magiging kapalit nito sa aming barangay,” Felix shared.
After they have complied with all the requirements, they faced even more challenges with the procurement of materials. Since the supplies needed were not available within the municipality, the Procurement Team volunteers went to other towns of Candelaria, Lucena, and Tiaong to canvass for the cable wires, lamp posts, and other electric and construction materials.
“Na-delay din kami ng halos isang buwan sa implementation dahil mahirap makakuha ng mga materyales na kailangan. Pero noong nakabili na kami at mismong gawaan na ng proyekto, marami ang nag-bayanihan para hindi na rin ito matagalan pa,” shared Felix.
After months of surpassing the difficulties, Felix proudly affirmed that the willingness and participation of the volunteers prevailed in bringing the light to the community.
Brighter possibilities
The PhP366,371.00 electrification sub-project of Brgy. Cawayanin Ibaba was able to give light to 30 households and install seven street lights in the area.
The households now supplied with electricity were able to start new livelihood like selling ice, cold drinks, and other chilled products in their sari-sari stores. Poultry raisers also bought incubators for easy development of farm eggs and chicks.
Moreover, stealing was lessened as farmers put light in storage areas to easily watch over their agricultural products.
“Laking kaginhawaan ng ilaw sa hanapbuhay namin,” Felix added.
He also shared that the process of Kalahi-CIDSS PAMANA enlightened them to work hard for the improvement of their community.
Barangay Cawayanin Ibaba had coordinated with another government agency to implement the Sitio Electrification Program (SEP) in their barangay. Through the assistance of SEP, Brgy. Cawayanin Ibaba is expected to have complete electrification and 31 additional street lights this 2015.
Also this year, Brgy. Cawayanin Ibaba will be implementing another project cycle of PAMANA through the expanded KALAHI CIDSS-National Community Driven Development Program (KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP). KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP is the extension of operations of community driven development approach, which was the process undertaken by the previous Kalahi-CIDSS.
Through KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP PAMANA, the community proposes to improve their pathway along the rice fields traversing to the nearest main road. They are planning to make the pathway wide enough for vehicles to pass through.
“Binubuhat lang kasi namin ang mga sako papunta sa highway. Mahal din kasi ang upa sa kalabaw. Mas magiging madali kung makakapasok na mismo ang tricycle at motor dito sa amin,” Felix shared.
Spending most of his life as a farmer in Brgy. Cawayanin Ibaba, Felix has seen the changes in their lives and the various opportunities they had because of the community projects. Now, they have easier means to reach for a brighter future.