DA RETURNS TO SO. LEYTE
WITH P100-M ABACA FUND
As promised, the Department of Agriculture returns to
Sogod, Southern Leyte on Aug. 26 to formally turn over a P100-million support
fund for the rehabilitation of the province's Number 1 industry - Abaca.
My third visit to the province bringing with me the funds
promised for Abaca farmers comes three months after I first talked to the
leaders of Sogod town who sought the help of government in bringing back to
life an industry which in the past made enough money for farmers for them to be
able to send their children to school.
"When Abaca was at its height, people had money and
life was good in this province," Sogod Mayor Imelda Tan told me during my
last visit to the town last month.
The Abaca industry collapsed when it was hit by diseases,
specifically Bunchy Top which stunted the growth of the fiber-producing plant
which is endemic to the Philippines.
For many years, people of Southern Leyte, including Samar
and Bicol, sought for help from government for the rehabilitation of the
industry but hardly received any support.
On May 20, shortly after I launched my nation-wide
Biyaheng Bukid, I passed by the town of Sogod on my way up to the Bicol Region.
Mayor Tan, whose husband Shepherd ran for Governor of
Southern Leyte but lost to incumbent Gov. Damian Mercado, has asked me to
support the efforts of the municipality to rehabilitate the abaca industry.
The P100-M Abaca Rehabilitation fund for Southern Leyte
will be used for the establishment of a nursery using the healthy planting
materials of a local Abaca variety called Inusa.
The healthy planting materials will be bought from the
remaining Abaca farmers who have kept their farms free from diseases.
From these nurseries, healthy planting materials will be
distributed to other farmers starting next year with a target planted area of
90,000 hectares by the end of the 6-year term of President Rody Duterte.
Southern Leyte incidentally is the birth place of
President Duterte. He was born in the town of Maasin which is now a bustling
city.
To address the issues of Abaca diseases, I have engaged a
group of experts from Mindanao led by Dr. Remy Baltazar to assist in educating
the farmers on how to manage their farms.
The revival of the Abaca industry is expected to earn an
estimated P12-B a year for the country which is known as natural home of this
plant which has given the world the strongest natural fiber.
The years of waiting by the poor Abaca farmers of
Southern Leyte will soon end in a matter of three months after I visited Sogod
and only two months after the man who promised to bring change to the country
assumed office as the 16th President of the Republic of the Philippines.
#Changeishere! #PresRodyCares! #DuterteDelivers!
Source: By Manny Piñol facebook post.
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