CORN farmers in Carmen town, North Cotabato, received post-harvest facilities from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) on Tuesday, October 4, under the Climate-Resilient Farm Productivity Support Program (CRFPSP)-Sustainable Livelihood Support Program.

Charish Paña, the provincial agrarian reform program officer, said the equipment consisted of a combined 3-in-1 hammer mill and four collapsible dryers, plus a package of capacity development training given to the Malapag Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARB) Farmers Association (FA).

“The assistance has a combined amount of P450,000,” Paña added.

During a turnover program, he said the project was awarded to the Malapag ARB FA to strengthen the production of staple food commodities in support of a directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to increase the production of corn and rice in the country to stabilize food prices.

Aside from the facilities, Paña added, the DAR would also continue to equip and capacitate the farmers and their organizations on financial matters.

Leonilio Romano, the corn farmer association leader, expressed his gratitude to the DAR for the continuous support services provided to them.

“We would like to thank DAR for continuously strengthening our association by providing interventions like this CRFPSP project, where we can address the needs of our members and generate additional income,” Romano said.

He also said the combined 3-in-1 hammer mill would enable them to produce and sell hammered corn, cracked corn, corn bran, milled rice and rice bran as add-ons to their agri-supply store.

Meanwhile, a total of 180 former rebel supporters in Makilala town, North Cotabato, underwent a livelihood capacity-building at the headquarters of the 39th Infantry Battalion (39IB) of the Philippine Army.

The participants, who are members of 10 people’s organizations (POs), were given training on leadership and financial management, as well as on teambuilding and interpersonal skills development.

Lt. Col. Ezra Balagtey, commander of the 39IB, said the capacity-building was facilitated by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 12, in partnership with the Municipal Social Welfare Development Office-Makilala, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), local government unit (LGU) of Makilala and the 39IB.

Balagtey noted that the activity was conducted as part of the efforts of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) and the Task Force Balik-Loob program for continued development of former rebels and supporters.

The 10 POs are set to benefit from the Sustainable Livelihood Program of the DSWD and will receive P300,000 to augment the financial capability of their respective cooperatives.

Balagtey expressed his appreciation to all partner agencies and encouraged both the participants and the agencies involved to continue building peace in communities.

“We are thankful to the DSWD, the DTI and the LGU of Makilala for continuously reaching out and bringing hope to our brothers and sisters who were once lost from the mainstream. Let us continue to converge our efforts and initiatives to build peace by addressing the issues that cause conflict,” he said.