At 2 a.m. yesterday, I and my staff were already up and awake and ready for a long journey to a paradise at the Eastern Edge of Mindanao facing the Pacific Ocean, Surigao del Sur.
Our destination: Tandag, a place which I last visited when I was a teenage reporter about 40 years ago when it was hit by a Tsunami which destroyed hundreds of houses.
After a three hour trip from Butuan City, I finally saw Tandag again after four decades.
Tandag was very much different yesterday, a far cry from the devastated place which I saw over 40 years ago.
It is now a bustling city made lively by huge mining activities in the province which according to its Governor, Vicente “Baby” Pimentel earns P250-M a month from mining royalties.
In fact, mining has contributed to the reduction of poverty incidence in the province which was placed at 45.1% in 2006 to only 35.3% in 2015.
But I was worried with what I saw beyond mining because it is a temporary activity which would only be good while the minerals are present for the digging.
Surigao del Sur, including its northern sister province, Surigao del Norte, is one of the richest fishing grounds of the country with species of shells not found in other parts of the Philippines.
Right at the edge of the two provinces is a sea so deep that it is considered as one of the mysteries of the world because no one has explored what is down there – the Philippine Deep.
Surigao has a heavier rainfall pattern allowing rice farmers to plant even on “dry planting season.”
It is blessed with so many large and deep rivers which could potentially be sources of water supply for agriculture.
But with 98,000 hectares dedicated to coconut, 26,000 hectares to rice farming, 6,000 to corn farming and the rest to other crops, I shuddered at the thought of what would happen if mining would suddenly stop?
Yesterday, during the consultations with farmers, fisher folks, mayors, the provincial officials including the two Congressmen – Prospero Pichay and Johnny Pimentel – I emphasised the importance of developing the agriculture and fisheries potentials of the province.
For starters, I turned over yesterday 45 fiberglass fishing boats for the fisher folks, the first of the 500 units which would be distributed to the fisher folk families of the province.
I also instructed the new general manager of the Philippine Fishports Development Authority (PFDA), lawyer Glen Pangapalan, to identify the rich fishing grounds of the province and establish fish ports complete with ice making and cold storage facilities.
Farm machineries including modern rice and corn harvesters, the first in the province, were turned over and I committed to deliver starting Monday 80 units of power tillers for the very wide but idle rice farming areas in the province.
Next year, as soon as DA Regional Director Renato Manantan is able to identify the key production areas for rice and corn, modern rice and corn dryers and storage facilities will be established.
All of these will be part of a comprehensive agricultural and fisheries development program which will be implemented under the administration of President Rody Duterte.
Through this, we will be able to prepare Surigaonons for life after mining, something which many former mining areas in the country failed to do.
The trip to Tandag, Surigao del Sur was rigorous and tiring, what with the 8-hour land trip back home to Kidapawan City, but I felt good having completed a sentimental journey to Tandag and happy with the thought that now, I will be able to contribute to its continued growth.
(Photos by Allan Jay Jacalan, AFID)
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