I was in a series of.meetings in my office yesterday when my staff told me that a group of farmers from Tarlac asked if they could personally see me.
It was something that I could and will never ever turn down.
True enough, when they entered the office, I knew they were real farmers.
The faded clothes, the sunburnt faces and the smell of the sun were proofs that they were indeed farmers.
The farmers – Eric Limun, Orlando Cano, Edwin dela Cruz and Aris Victoria – told me they came all the way from Bamban, Tarlac to appeal that the 1-kilometer road which was promised to them in 2010 be included in the Farm to Market Road Projects for 2018.
They said the road had been surveyed and resurveyed several times but it was never built.
“Hirap na po kami kaya noong eleksyon nangampanya kami kay Pangulong Digong,” the farmers said showing to me their IDs as PDP Laban Volunteer watchers.
They also showed to me the worn out pictures of a muddy road which they said connected their farms to the market.
I felt a lump in my throat. It is in moments like this when I realize how the government in the past made promises which were never fufilled.
Immediately, I called the FMRDP staff and asked them to accompany the farmers to their Congressman, Noel Villanueva, so that the road project could be included in the priorities of the district next year.
In 10 minutes, the road project which the farmers have been waiting for seven years was approved and funded.
Before they stepped out of my office, the farmers thanked me profusely.
I told them to thank themselves because they believed and campaigned hard for President Rody Duterte.
I saw tears in their eyes.
(Photos of the farmers taken by Fathma Sulaik)
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