Biyaheng Bukid Day 12 NO, NOT EVERTHING IS SWEET IN LAND OF CHOCOLATE HILLS

By Manny Piñol

Bohol, the island province just north of the island of Mindanao, is known for its Chocolate Hills but life isn’t sweet for the almost 1.3-million Bol-anons.

Shortly after arriving in Tagbilaran City Monday morning to visit the pioneering organic farm in Maribojoc town initiated by outgoing Mayor and incoming Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco, I decided to pass by the wet market of the city.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Bohol’s vice governor-elect Dionesio Balite, a supporter of President-elect Rody Duterte, waiting at the entrance to guide me around the huge building.

What I in the public market made me realise how important President Duterte’s Food Positioning Strategy is and how it could make available affordable food for the people of Bohol.

Beef costs P250 per kilo as compared to P170 Kidapawan City where I live, pork is sold for P180 per kilo compared to P140 in my province and cardava banana is priced at P20 per kilo compared to P5 from where I came from.

When I met Mayor Evasco later at the Maribojoc Organic Demo Farm, he explained to me that food production and agriculture has actually taken a backseat in the priorities of most local government in the islands.

“They’ve focused most of their resources on tourism while agriculture and food production have taken the backseat,” he said.

What Mayor Evasco was looking at was a two-pronged approach to make food available and affordable for the Bol-anons.

Since most of the commodities, including Cardava bananas, needed by the province now come from the nearby island of Mindanao, there is a need to establish a food storage facility in one of the coastal towns so that these could be effectively distributed to the different markets all over the island.

The other approach is to identify the food requirements of the province and support farmers’ groups involved in the production of the said commodities.

For the province’s beef requirements, I suggested the establishment of communal cattle fattening projects in the different towns where feed materials are available.

For hog raising, Mayor Evasco said they have already started a system where organic farmers raising hogs the traditional way will be supported with feeds and technology.

The organic farming demo centre already has a small feed mixer and all that is needed would be support to be able to produce feeds in bigger volume.

For the organic chicken production, I have offered Mayor Evasco’s group a start up breeding material of Manok Pinoy, a new strain of free ranged chicken which I personally bred and developed.

Planned very well, the problem of food sold at very high prices ould provide a window of opportunity for Bohol’s farmers.

All that it needs actually is to look at the problems first hand and find practical solutions.

(Photos in Tagbilaran City public market with Vice Governor-elect Dionesio Balite and in the Maribojoc organic demo farm with Mayor Jun Evasco)