Once more it was proven that if only government officials would get out of their air-conditioned offices and walk an extra kilometre into the rural areas of this country, many lives will be touched and will change forever.
On Friday last week in the remote village of Pisan, Kabacan, North Cotabato, I met 30 Blaan tribal families during the turn-over of a small water impounding project to rice farmers in the area.
While checking the one-hectare wide water impounding, I saw across the lake rows of small houses and was prompted to ask the owner of the land who lived in those huts.
Rolando Tugade, the owner of the land who allowed his neighbours to draw water from his lake for irrigation, said the huts were owned by 30 Blaan families who were displaced by the conflict in the area.
He allowed the Blaan families to settle in his 40-hectare land and plant corn, root crops and vegetables to survive.
During the ceremony, I called the Blaan tribal leader and told him that each family will receive one Carabao each complete with implements, including plows and corn seeds.
I also found out that one member of the tribe was a member of the Children of Peace Program which I started when I was Governor of North Cotabato.
Since he was the only member of the tribe with the highest educational attainment having finished high school, he was designated as the coordinator of the livelihood programs for his tribe.
The only condition I set for the Blaan’s was for them to take good care of the animals and to ensure that their children will be able to go to school.
“Karon lang gid kami nakadawat tabang halin sa gobyerno sa panahon lang ni (President) Duterte,” the tribal leader said even as he thanked Tugade for allowing them to stay in his land.
I told the Blaans that I will come back next year to check if their lives improved because of the assistance they received from government.
(DA AFID Photos by Alan Jay Jacalan and Lito Degorio)
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