Knocked down but never undone
Farmer-beneficiary Albert Linda is now smiling from ear to ear again, his face glowing with satisfaction. He attributes the 180-degree turn of his life to the Department of Agrarian Reform for extending a hand at a time when he lost everything in a snap.
Not too long ago, Albert was in distress, desperate and helpless. Super Typhoon Pablo ravaged the southern Philippines in 2012, toppling everything in its path. It left him and the people of the hardest hit Davao Oriental practically empty-handed.
Pablo, internationally named Bopha, packed maximum sustained winds of 259 kph and gusts of up to 314 KPH.
The nightmare tormented Albert for some time. The mere mention of the super typhoon was enough to make him flinch in fear.
Still, Albert was lucky that his wife and two children were unharmed. “They were the ones who kept me going and helped me weather the storm,” he said.
At the same time, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and other Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)-implementing agencies came to his rescue, providing him and fellow farmers with various livelihood projects to get them back on their feet.
“I ventured into vermiculture composting through the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (Pamana) Project,” Albert said.
With farm inputs, seedlings, and farm animals provided by the government, Albert managed to return to planting rice and vegetables in his two-hectare farm lot in Barangay San Antonio, Cateel, Davao Oriental. And through sheer determination, Albert managed to recover what he lost.
“Today, my average annual income from rice cropping and goat and swine dispersal is P258,000. In vermiculture composting, I’ve been earning an average of P36,000 and enjoying a monthly income of 24,500,” he said.
He has also started working on another hectare of rice farm, pawned to him by a neighbor.
With his newfound fortune, Albert was able to build a house and buy household appliances.
But more than the material gains, he is most grateful to be able to send his children back to school. He also shoulders his nephew’s school monthly allowance.
“I’ve never dreamt of enjoying the kind of life I have now. I owe everything to God Almighty and to all government agencies, especially the DAR, for helping us get through the darkest night of our life,” Albert said.
“To the DAR and the other government agencies, we will forever be grateful to you for all the support you extended to us, especially after Super Typhoon Pablo destroyed our community,” Albert said. (By Lyzabeth Dacula and Edited by Richard B. Gallardo)
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