by: BRC
They just came from a 24-hour trip. While having coffee, they discussed their circumstances and efforts as community leaders..
And as one said: "If roads are accessible, support for us farmers is available, markets for our products are there... We can live without masters paying us with minimum wage. We have products. Those who reject organic agriculture and sustainable development are the elitists who love to pay money to land tillers with no heart for the future of the workers. It is simply making money for their pockets in the name of employing workers."
As they enjoy with passion their exchange on suggestions for a strengthened local economy, I picked two points - ecological and empowerment of the local resources.
I remembered a tribal leader's wisdom when asked about their economic framework. " We have our own distinct but not really distinct economic and agricultural system. We receive from nature what we need and are aware that our neighbors and future generations also depend on it. If we are only allowed to live our lives the way they used to be, we won't worry about money or hunger. We may be benchmarked as poor or below the poverty line because we don't have a lot of money, but if we are living happily, satisfied, and sustainably, then so be it. At least we don't destroy just to live."
Like Sibagat, if the farming and agriculture sector is substantially supported by farm inputs to infrastructure (roads, equipment, facilities) and in marketing, the sector will surely earn, and the locals can eat and send their children to school.
Among other services, it should include social protection, benefits, capacity building, social responsibility, etc.If the fiber industry in the locality is revitalized (ecologically), it will give employment, income and support for the local weaving community. Provided that it will not endanger sustainable food production and biodiversity. And should not!
In one radio interview, nadungog pud naku ni (I also heard this), "kanang dili na mogasto ang pamilya Kay naa nay makutlo ug naay makuot sa pugaran ug tangkal, dili ba diay na makwenta nga kita kung tagaag bili? Kanang ang pamilya Kay dili na punay ug adto hospital ug palit tambal Kay Himsog nang pagkaon ug palibot unya dili na pud usik ug tubil sa ambulansya, dili ba diay na maihap nga ginansya o minus gasto?"
(“That the family won't have to spend anymore because there's something to gather and something to take from the nest and cage, wouldn't that be considered income if we put a value on it? That's because the family doesn't have to go to the hospital and buy medicine all the time anymore, since they have healthy food and surroundings. And they don't waste money on ambulance rides either, wouldn't that be considered a gain or a reduction in expenses?”)
It is also important to recommend that harmonization of land and tenurial instruments with the agrarian and ancestral domain questions is incorporated.
Sibagat is rich in coconut trees. The local government can tap the Philippine Coconut Authority and other agencies to bring into the municipality the industry — industrializing where the raw materials are. Again, it will boost the local economy without destroying nature's bounty. Coffee and fruits are growing potential resources for an industry in the locality. The fisheries, though small and scattered, have potential for local supply and entrepreneurship. And so are the root crops.
Sibagat has cultural and natural bounties that are also important and are assets to bring in employment and income for the locals.
We can even invite Sibagat overseas workers to invest in the local agricultural production in the locality or any of the ecological development projects.
Agencies can organize the migrant workers or the families and capacitate them with sound management of the remittances from their relatives.
Above all, restoration of the forests and biodiversity as advocated by the locals right now is a big addition to Sibagat and Sibagatnons' sustainable future.
Sibagat could have a planned economy, planning not towards destruction but a comprehensive one towards sustainability.
In recent history, an economic development vision without substantially considering ecological integrity is a plan not to empower its people.
The challenge of inviting people on the journey remains high. We need more transformative perspectives and consciousness.
We need more proof and narratives from the practices. We need more committed policy-changemakers and implementers.
We need more communicators, more storytellers, more writers, more demonstrators, more organizers, more community leaders, and more conscious and responsible citizenry.
Way to go for a democratic, inter-generational, intersectional, and Holistic future of Sibagat and Sibagatnons.
Toa na tood akong mga bisita. Nilahos na sa ilang padulngan. (My visitors have left. They proceeded to their final stop).
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Photo grabbed from Sibagat Turismo, Go Organiko Sibagat and BN compilations.
This is an updated version of the May 18, 2024 released.
Thanks Miss Divine Grace for agreeing to be in the cover. Miss DG is a farmer-agripreneur in town. She farms in Kioya, Sibagat, Agusan del Sur.
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