MORE NEWS, ABRA

Tineg town gets help on food production
By Robert L. Domoguen

TINEG, Abra -- Over the past years, this remote upland town had been known for its inaccessibility, poverty and recently, the murder of a mayor.
The municipality’s negative profile is fast changing presently. Mainly through the efforts of the office of Gov. Eustaquio Bersamin, Tineg may yet be transformed into a progressive municipality.

This projection and change for the better, begun with the completion of a new Philippine National Police building. A new municipal building is also under construction.

Recently, Bersamin coordinated with local folks for planting of forest trees and fruit trees to promote the maintenance of communal forest areas and greening of individual lots.

Bersamin’s initiative to disperse development assistance to the upland municipalities of the province reverses the previous development thrust of his predecessors.

During the foundational years of Abra, it was known as one of the richest province of the country. That image has been tarnished by the notorious murders of politicians, religious people, and other individuals giving Abra the monicker, “killing fields of North Luzon.”

During our conversations at his office last week, he said that Abra will yet regain its former status as one of the progressive and peaceful provinces of the country. To do that, we need to disperse available resources and invest in the development of all the municipalities.

He admitted the difficult task is huge and cannot be solved overnight. He admired the initiative of some mayors in planning well for their municipalities and helping him in this endeavor.

One reason why highland Abrenians remain poor up to this day is because they have to travel all the way to Bangued to buy basic necessities or simply have documents signed by their local officials. All municipalities of the province must be developed so that they can enjoy some form of “autonomy” in their own places in handling even these simple and basic necessities, he said.

Bersamin discussed a lot of proposals with Department of Agriculture-CAR Regional Executive Director Cesar Rodriguez to achieve his vision to alleviate the current plight of the province’s 27 municipalities.

He is working with all sectors who are willing to advance agricultural development for the province.

Specifically for Tineg, Bersamin is working with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for the production of off-season vegetables in barangays Alaoa and Apao starting on the month of April until December.

About 30 farmers will be involved in this project. He turned-over a greenhouse from the Department of Agriculture (DA) to support this project.

Christopher Sulloy and Walter Peralta, both ministers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints said that the joint project will not only provide income for the farmers but also addresses the nutrition problems of Abrenians. Abra is considered among the “food provinces” of the country because of the limited supply of vegetable crops for the locals from May to November.

During these months, the vegetable supply of the province comes from the Ilocos, Central Luzon and even as far as Mindanao. During the typhoon months, however, vegetable are usually scarce, and command very high prices.

Jesus Valmayor, Senior Agriculturist said that Tineg town is ideal for the production of vegetables because it is situated from mid to high elevation. Irrigation is also abundant and soil is very fertile. The project is also seen as an opportunity to lure back the Tineg folks who abandoned their farmlands in search for livelihood in Bangued and nearby provinces, he added.


CHARM-2 development projects to start in Abra
By Robert Domoguen

BANGUED, Abra – The Provincial government of Abra is ready to support the implementation of the recently launched second phase of the Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resources Management (CHARM-2) Project in the province.

Gov. Eustaquio Bersamin assured Agriculture regional executive director Cesar D. Rodriguez and local stakeholders his support on the project following consultation with municipal mayors, representatives from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, barangay captains, agriculturists, planning and development officers, and engineers from the new coverage areas of CHARM-2 in Abra last March 19.

For Abra, eight highland municipalities were targeted as coverage areas for the CHARM-2 project.

This is aside from three old municipal coverage areas to include Sallapan, Bucloc and Boliney towns.

The PLGU identified new municipal and barangay coverage areas as Luba, Lacub, Malibcong, and Licuan-0aay with a total of 20 new barangays.

The old and new coverage areas now comprise the total areas where the CHARM-2 project will be implemented in the province.

Of the six provinces of the Cordillera, Abra is the first to complete identification of new CHARM-2 coverage areas following project guidelines and processes in identifying the project areas.

Philip Tinggonong, provincial planning and development officer and Gerardo Banawa, provincial coordinating officer, also announced composition of the organization of the project’s steering committee, an urgent loan compliance commitment between the Philippine government, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and implementing provincial government units for the CHARM-2 Project.

Bersamin said that he appreciated inclusion of the highland municipalities of Abra in implementation of the CHARM-2 Project noting stringent, process-oriented and transparent strategies adopted by project proponents to ensure that benefits will redound to the beneficiaries.