North Cotabato’s IP organization receives P1.3-M hauling truck from DAR

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in North Cotabato has turned over a Php1,3 million worth of hauling truck to an indigenous peoples (IP) cooperative, particularly the B’laan Klayag Amda De Du Sansato ARB (agrarian reform beneficiary) cooperative of Bacong Village, in the town of Tulunan to help them quickly transport their agricultural products to trading centers and markets.

On the average, the B’laan Klayag Amda De Du Sansato ARB Cooperative is delivering 40 tons per month of cardava banana to Liberty Fruits, Inc. situated at barangay Mua-an, Kidapawan City and other various markets.

Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer (PARPO) II Reynaldo Anfone said the delays in the delivery of cardava bananas would be greatly minimized, if not totally avoided because of the efficiency of transportation equipment provided by the DAR.

“The provision of hauling truck will surely lessen the transportation cost of the cooperative in bringing their agricultural produce to the market. The cooperative is also expected to earn more by establishing an additional enterprise such as hauling services rental,” Anfone said.

The hauling truck was implemented through The PaSSOver: ARBold Move for Deliverance of ARBs from the COVID-19 Pandemic project in response to the urgent need to come up with timely and effective mechanisms to enable and provide the ARBs the needed assistance and support in this time of crisis.

Coop Project Manager Cesar Masili said for several years of their business implementation, they were always confronted with delays during delivery because most of the time, the hauling trucks they were renting arrived late, thus, wasting so much of their time.

“Now that the hauling truck is here, we already have the control with the delivery schedule and we could spend more time in our farm,” Masili said.

On the other hand PARPO I Charish Paña advised the beneficiary organization and its members to create a committee that would look after the maintenance and monitoring of the hauling truck to ensure its functionality for a long time.

The IP cooperative is engaged in cardava banana trading since 2016 after the DAR-Catholic Relief Service project dubbed as “Linking Smallholder Farmers to Market” was implemented in the area.

Organisasyon ng mga IPs sa No. Cotabato tumanggap ng P1.3-M hauling truck mula sa DAR

Nagkaloob ang Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) sa North Cotabato ng isang-yunit ng hauling truck na nagkakahalaga ng Php Php1,3 milyon sa isang kooperatiba ng katutubong mamamayan o indigenous peoples (Ips), partikular sa B’laan Klayag Amda De Du Sansato ARB (agrarian reform beneficiary) cooperative sa Bacong Village, sa bayan ng Tulunan upang mapabilis ang pagbiyahe ng mga produktong agrikultural sa merkado.

Sa karaniwan, ang B’laan Klayag Amda De Du Sansato ARB Cooperative ay nakakapag deliver ng may 40 tonelada kada buwan ng cardava banana sa Liberty Fruits, Inc. sa barangay Mua-an, Kidapawan City at sa iba pang merkado.

Ayon kay Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer (PARPO) II Reynaldo Anfone ang pagkaantala ng mga produktong saging ay mababawasan, kung hindi man maiiwasan na dahil sa kahusayan ng transportasyon na naipagkaloob ng DAR.

“Siguradong mababawasan ang gastusin sa pagbibyahe ng produkto ng mga kooperatiba patungo sa pamilihan dahil sa hauling truck na naipagkaloob sa kanila. Inaasahan din na magkakaroon sila ng dagdag kita kapag nasimulan na nila ang negosyong pagrerenta o hauling services,” ani Anfone.

Ang hauling truck ay naisakatuparan sa ilalim ng The PaSSOver: ARBold Move for Deliverance of ARBs from the COVID-19 Pandemic project, na isang tugon para sa pangangailangan na magkaroon ng napapanahon at epektibong mekanismo na makapagbibigay ng suporta sa mga ARB sa panahon ng pandemya.

Ani Coop Project Manager Cesar Masili, na sa ilang taon ng implementasyon ng kanilang negosyo, palagi nilang nagiging problema ang mga pagkaantala ng paghahatid ng produkto dahil madalas na huling dumadating ang mga truck na kanilang inaarkila, kung kaya mas maraming oras ang nasasayang.

“Ngayong mayroon na tayong hauling truck, kontrolado na natin ang oras ng paghahatid ng ating produkto at mas marami na tayong panahon para sa mga gawain sa sakahan,” ani Masili.

Pinayuhan naman ni PARPO I Charish Paña ang mga kooperatiba na magtayo ng komiti na titingin sa pagpapanatili at pagmo-monitor ng truck upang maseguro ang pang-matagalang paggamit dito.

Ang kooperatiba ng mga katutubong mamamayan ay nagnenegosyo ng saging na cardava mula pa noong 2016 pagkatapos isakatuparan ang proyektong DAR-Catholic Relief Service na tinawag na “Linking Smallholder Farmers to Market” sa kanilang lugar.