Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat – My first trip to this quaint coastal town 41 years ago was during moments of grief and suffering for people in areas facing the Moro Gulf.
At a little past midnight on August 17, 1976, an Intensity 7.9 earthquake with its epicenter in the Gulf shook Southern Mindanao triggering a Tsunami which devastated the coastal areas and swallowed over 8,000 people, the bodies of many of whom were never found.
I was a young information officer of the National Grains Authority (NGA) and was directed to join a team of government personnel tasked to lift up the spirit of the devastated people by promising them help.
We sailed the rough seas and visited Lebak, Kalamansig and Palimbang and spent about one week talking to people.
I don’t know what happened to the promises because I left Cotabato a year later and worked as a journalst in Manila.
Yesterday, I visited Kalamansig for the second time for the Biyaheng Bukid Farmers and Fisher Folks Forum including those from Lebak and Palimbang.
The mood was neither somber nor funereal unlike 41 years when peole were walking like zombies staring at nothingness.
Today, in the municipal gymnasium where people gathered, there was a festive and celebratory air as farmers and fisher folks lined up to tell their Agriculture Secretary what they needed.
Farm implements, fiberglass fishing.boats, roads, rice mills and working capital were among those they asked.
Some of the things they asked, like the fishing boats and the water pumps, were turned over to them right after the forum because there was already a listing of what they wanted to have.
The other requests were listed down and the concerned offices instructed to undertake the validation or engineering studies of the proposed projects.
This time, I will deliver what was promised because unlike 41 years ago when I was just a happy-go-lucky government functionary, I now head the government department that could change their lives.
With the support of President Rody Duterte, we will make their dreams come true.
(Photos by Allan Jay Jacalan, DA-AFID Biyaheng Bukid.)
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