Huge catch for former MNLF combatants

Razid Bani, cluster leader of the Sapu Masla Fisherfolk Association, oversees the initial harvest of humpback groupers in Malapatan, Sarangani Province. Bani and his group earned P24,000 for the 20 groupers they harvested. USAID’s Targeted Commodity Expansion Program (TCEP), which is being implemented by the Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, trained these former MNLF combatants on production methods and provided humpback grouper fingerlings from Indonesia. The ten-kilogram initial yield of high-value finfish was purchased by RD Fishing for breeding purposes. Sold at a prevailing market price of P2,400 per kilogram, humpback groupers are exported to China where the market for the fish is growing rapidly. TCEP has assisted approximately 9,000 former MNLF combatants, who are also graduates of USAID’s Livelihood Enhancement and Peace Program, to diversify into the production of high value commodities such as vegetables, cardaba bananas, grouper, prawns and tilapia. GEM is being implemented under the oversight of the Mindanao Economic Development Council. (GEM Program)

A Library Project for Talakag

 

In May this year, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed a declaration elevating the 83-year old Bukidnon State College into a University.  A remarkable progress indeed, but for it’s Extension School set up in Talakag, Bukidnon two years ago, there’s still a lot to be achieved.

The extension school in Talakag currently offers courses in Arts and Sciences, Commerce, Business Administration and Information Technology.  Thanks to the Municipal Officials who for years have pursued the Bukidnon State College for the extension school to be set up locally that affordable further education is now available to the people of Talakag and its surrounding areas.  The time has come when those from these remote areas who wish to pursue further education no longer have to travel the winding roads to Malaybalay City, Cagayan de Oro City and beyond.

The extension school currently uses the classrooms in the elementary school; when elementary classes end at four o’clock in the afternoon, the college classes commence at five o’clock.  Computer facilities are being provided in the Municipal Hall.  However, learning resource facilities such as a library was non-existent.  When I heard about this, I made a personal commitment to help put up a library as soon as possible.  That time has come.  In February this year, I sent a Balikbayan Box filled with my collection of textbooks from Durham University Business School, England to Talakag.  The textbooks were there in time for my visit last April.  The photo shows the hand-over of the first donation to Mr Abe Urbina (the Talakag Head of School) and Mr Alfredo Tampo (the School Administrator).  When school commenced in June, the books were well received by students and teachers.

I am currently filling up another Balikbayan Box with reading materials such as textbooks, CD-ROMs and DVDs in the field of commerce, business administration and information and technology; references such as dictionaries, encyclopaedias, atlases and thesauruses; and other personal development books such as travel, cookery, gardening, do-it-yourself books and learning foreign languages (German, French and Spanish).  I firmly believe that access to a wide range of books and information resources will enable students to develop even beyond their curriculum.

I hope that more book donations from my colleagues at Durham University Business School and personal friends will soon enrich the library collection in Talakag and provide valuable materials to support and improve the quality of further education and ultimately promote a reading culture.

Kids relaxing

Maybe these kids have had a long day… they seem to be just relaxing after a tough one!

It’s time for Mindanao to prosper!

Did you know that Central and Northern Luzon are in a serious drought right now?  It’s true, and it’s the talk of the Philippines at this time.  Because of the drought, there is a lot of concern that the supply of rice later this year and into next year could be in serious trouble, meaning that the nation will probably need to import rice from abroad.  For a country where rice is THE staple that feeds the 80+ Million Citizens, this is serious business.  In addition to endangering the rice crop in Luzon, the drought is also leaving Manila on the verge of a water crisis.  There is a lot of talk about water conservation, even rationing in Manila in days and weeks to come.  Of course, everybody is praying for rain, but so far there is none on the horizon.

Thankfully, the Visayas and Mindanao are not affected by the drought conditions, at least not at this time.  This is great news for Mindanao!  Last night, I was watching an interview with the Secretary of the Bureau of Agriculture on TV, and he was saying that the Government is already making plans to shift their investment in rice farming toward Mindanao and the Visayas this year.  I have traveled Mindanao pretty extensively, and one thing that I see wherever I go is that there is a lot of barren land that is not being used!  If Mindanao could really push this, get to some serious work, and convert a lot of these lands to rice farming, this could really be a time when Mindanao would shine! Read more

AFP: Learning from Mistakes?

This article was written by Julie S. Alipala of Newsbreak.

This is not the first time that the Marines have been beheaded in Basilan. Why did it happen again?

“It could have been avoided.”

These are the words of some military and Basilan local government officials referring to the July 10 killing and beheading of 10 Marine soldiers and wounding of about 15 others.

Avoided, that is, if the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has learned from past mistakes.

There are past beheadings where the marines met a similar fate and that was in February 1993 when 21 Marine officers and soldiers were mutilated, and four beheaded in an encounter with the Moro National Liberation Front in Tuburan town in Basilan. Read more