| Rebel infested village gets P1.8-M city aid |
| Written by Eldie S. Aguirre | |
| Saturday, 18 October 2008 | |
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Some residents of a sub-village (sitio) in Barangay (village) Goma – one of the remote villages in this city where the police and the military tagged as among the “areas of concern” due to frequent sightings of the New People’s Army (NPA) that often led to fierce firefights became recipients of the cattle dispersal program of the city agriculture office.
A cluster of 25 of Gocufamco (Goma Coconut Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative) in Sitio Napan received 19 female adult cattle and one bull from Mayor Arsenio Latasa and City Agriculturist Roger Masculino during the recently concluded turnover rites.
Latasa said the livestock dispersal program is just part of a larger and wider strategic development framework of the city government to boost the economic activities of the agricultural sector that is in dire need of financial support, especially the marginal farmers and their dependents.
“Marginal farmers in far flung villages of the city must be prioritized so that they could push through with their quest of achieving an average economic status where parents could provide shelter, food and clothing to their respective offspring and send them to school to earn quality education that will lead to a better job in the future,” Latasa said.
The mayor said the cattle dispersal program is an income-generating project and at the same time could be use to till their farmlands for additional earnings.
“It will definitely bring additional income and could uplift their economic status,” Latasa said.
Masculino said Gocufamco will have all the technology support from the agriculture office who will monitor if the member-beneficiaries are heeding on the rules and regulations provided for to become successful farmers.
“This group of marginal farmers in Sitio Napan under the Gocufamco is considered as “Upland Farming Model Village” in the entire city. The success of this program will depend on how the beneficiaries would behave after the dispersal. That’s why we are constantly monitoring their accomplishments,” Masculino said.
He said in due time all 92 Gocufamco members will have their own cattle and carabao since the dispersal scheme rules that the first recipients will hold the cattle up to the second pregnancy.
“After the second calf will be separated from its mother the holder must turnover the original cattle to the next beneficiary for another cycle,” Masculino said.
On the other hand, Latasa said the villagers of Napan will also receive P750 thousand for its agro-forestry project, P135 thousand for its nursery project, and P80 thousand for a bamboo planting activity to rehabilitate the 3,000-meter river bank of their village. |