BJMP, Samar agrarian beneficiaries sign marketing agreement

          TACLOBAN CITY – A farmer organization based in Marabut, Samar thanked the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) for introducing them to institutional buyers as steady markets for their products.

          Hipolito Maligmat, Chairman of the Hilaba Farmers Association (HFA), was so happy to tie-up with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), specifically the Tacloban City Jail Male Dorm, as a sure market for their fresh eggs.

          Earlier this month, Maligmat and Jail Chief Inspector Bernardino Edgar Camus signed a marketing agreement where HFA will be the jail’s supplier of fresh eggs for the consumption of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).

          The signing was held at the Tacloban City Jail Male Dorm. It was witnessed by Melecia Ong, Chief of the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development Sustainability Program (ARBDSP) Division of the DAR Regional office 8 and SJO3 Ferdinand Ordovez, Chief Operations Officer of the Tacloban City Jail Male Dorm.

          Maligmat and Camus agreed that HFA will deliver no less than 24 trays of fresh eggs every month to the said facility and will be paid based on the prevailing market price.

          Camus commented, “We hope this will continue so we can help the farmers, while for the Bureau, we can buy cheaper and nutritious food for our PDLs.”

          The tie-up was facilitated by Salfie Macalde and James Albia of DAR Samar Provincial Office under the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) program.

          HFA is one of the agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations (ARBOs) being assisted by DAR.

          According to Maligmat, “Aside from fresh eggs, our organization has sufficient supply of other farm commodities, the most popular of which is lettuce.” ###