COMPOSTELA, Compostela Valley Province – Barug Katawhan, a group of typhoon Pablo survivors, wanted the local government here to implement a sustainable rehabilitation program on areas that were ravaged by Typhoon Pablo two years ago.
“We urge government to implement a total rehabilitation program because until know majority of the Lumads living in the hinterlands of Compostela Valley province were not yet given any form of assistance,” Barug Katawhan leader Karlos Trianga said in a public forum Wednesday at the Compostela municipal ground.
Trianga said that government must support their call for sustainable farming so that peasants will be able to rebuild their lives.
“We want sustainable farming to be implemented because this is the best rehabilitation program that could help us bring back our livelihood,” Trianga said.
“So today, we are holding this activity so that the public and the local government will know of our situation that until know we still need immediate help,” Trangia appealed.
Earlier this year, the Department of Agriculture has earmarked P303 million for its typhoon Pablo rehabilitation program. Of the said amount, P264 million would be used to buy seedlings and fertilizers.
The Department of Agriculture has also distributed seedlings to some of the Pablo survivors but Trangia said the only a few Pablo survivors were able to receive because of the few seedlings distributed.
“We only want additional seedlings because until now, they are still yet to recover from their situation,” Trangia said.
Noli Villanueva, spokesperson of Compostela Farmers Association said “the government did not give concrete and long-term assistance to the Pablo survivors especially to the Lumads who are living in some remote areas in Compostela Valley.”
“The government is selective of those who will be given assistance while lowly peasants and farmers were not given priority and eventually neglected. We want sustainable agriculture that could sustain our needs not just a pack of goods,” Villanueva said. (davaotoday.com)
