Tublay coffee / Kabayan roads

TRAILS UP NORTH
Glo Abaeo Tuazon

TUBLAY, Benguet -- Coffee growing is fast becoming a rage with the worldwide demand for better tasting roast. Arabica has for a time been preferred over the other coffee classifications because of its great aroma and taste. BOCAEL (Benguet Organic Coffee Arabical Enterprise Limited) is Benguet’s primary advocate of Arabica coffee growing the organic way.

The advocacy a few people started has now grown into a more serious business group and has covered the 13 municipalities of Benguet that also included four groups from Baguio City.

So the local government unit of Benguet together with the municipality of Tublay on June 10, 2009 conducted a demonstration for proper coffee growing using the organic process along with some related onsite lectures. The idea is to create livelihood and at the same time being environmental friendly.

Tublay Mayor Ruben Paoad embraced the idea and actually advocates it. Setting the ceremonial first coffee tree, the activity continued with participating farmers and officials planting about 300 seedling in a volunteered area along Km 21, Ambassador, Tublay.

BOCAEL, together with the provincial government also created a contest to goad more people into coffee growing where the winner would be picked sometime about January-February next year. P30,000 is up at stake for first prize, P20,000 for second place and P10,000 for third.

For more details of the contest, interested coffee growers can get in touch with the BOCAEL office and look for their President and CEO Cipriano W. Bayangan Sr.
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In Nearby Kabayan town , to be able to promote their agro-industrial projects and eco-tourism programs, the need of better farm to market roads and improvement of national roads to and from Kabayan is badly longed for.

The completion of the Caling Bridge was reason for Kabayan residents to rejoice and hoping again for the faster construction of Eddett Bridge and Pantal Bridge which are almost 70% finished.

According to Mayor Faustino Aquisan, a proposed budget of P73 million is awaiting implementation from Rep. Samuel Dangwa to be budgeted along the stretch of the national road going to Kabayan.

Aquisan said it would be a great relief if all of this would be realized considering the long time that the residents have toiled thru the rutty, rocky roads and had a hard time transporting their produce to trade. This then would make it also easier for everybody to come and go as they wish and more importantly trade and tourism will greatly benefit from the improvements.

CHARM-2 is also in the process of evaluating 4 barangays in kabayan as recipients of their infra and livelihood programs. Barangays Pacso, Batan, Bashoy and Ballay having the widest in agricultural areas were chosen for these proposed programs. -- Email: twilight_glo@yahoo.com