Fiesta Na Bab-bay Ta Tana Nac Cagayan
A Women’s Month Special Supplement
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Fiesta Na Bab-bay Ta Tana Nac Cagayan
A Women’s Month Special Supplement
Editor’s Note
Men’s Mind
W
e at the Philippine Information Agency Region 2 has always been in support to the programs, projects and all undertakings of and for women. This year ‘s Women’s month celebration with the theme “Women Weathering Climate Change “ finally places the world’s women into the forefront of global warming mitigation efforts. We deemed it wise and necessary therefore to also pay tribute to the women in our region who successfully made the difference not only in their personal lives but likewise in the lives of those they touched most. These are the women who have successfully left their comfort zones to be where they should and to do what should be done without really trying. Gone are the days when women are mere “aliping sagigilid” and “aliping namamahay.” They ceased as mere wall decors of men who dismissed them as inferior species. Women of this generation now often display their power, knowledge and skills. They are the women who manage to yield their powers for the good of societies which try to limit their capabilities as against the olden day’s scenario where their leadership is forever stigmatized and their creativity, disdained. May you have a pleasurable reading as we celebrate Women’s Month this year.
Editorial Board PURITA S. LICAS Consulting Editor Oliver T. Baccay Associate Editor Benjie S. de Yro Managing Editor Alvin C. delos Santos Lay-out Artist
(This publication is a special supplement to honor outstanding women)
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They may talk of a comet, or a burning mountain, or some such bagatelle; but to me a modest woman, dressed out in all her finery, is the most tremendous object of the whole creation. ~Oliver Goldsmith If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant’s life, she will choose to save the infant’s life without even considering if there are men on base. ~Dave Barry A woman can say more in a sigh than a man can say in a sermon. ~Arnold Haultain There’s something luxurious about having a girl light your cigarette. In fact, I got married once on account of that. ~Harold Robbins
If women didn’t exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning. ~Aristotle Onassis
Be to her virtues very kind, Be to her faults a little blind. ~Matthew Prior
Men will always delight in a woman whose voice is lined with velvet. ~Brendan Francis
Every girl should use what Mother Nature gave her before Father Time takes it away. ~Laurence J. Peter
It is only rarely that one can see in a little boy the promise of a man, but one can almost always see in a little girl the threat of a woman. ~Alexandre Dumas, fils
A highbrow is a man who has found something more interesting than women. ~Edgar Wallace
I’d rather have two girls at seventeen than one at thirty-four. ~Fred Allen
You see, dear, it is not true that woman was made from man’s rib; she was really made from his funny bone. ~J.M. Barrie
Fiesta Na Bab-bay Ta Tana Nac Cagayan
A Women’s Month Special Supplement
A Woman of Substance By Benjie S. De Yro
T
hen US First Lady Leonore Roosevelt once likened a woman to a teabag- you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water. The First Lady may have thought of women like BFAR Director Jovita Ayson who, from the day she entered government service, has gracefully displayed a strong character that borders between public service and personal advancement. So dedicated was she in her chosen career that the joke circulating among her close- knit media friends is that she virtually lives inside her transport as she shuttles from one engagement to the next in and out of the country. She was relentless in her pursuit of service excellence. In fact, she has been bestowed with the highest national government award which she considers simply as a bonus for her efforts. She believes that women should never be relegated to the footnotes of history and gather dust. Like the previous women in the past, she knows that female boldness has been required to defend personal liberty and self-determination. Even before women’s liberation became in vogue in most parts of the western world, this petite Asian woman has imbibed in her system the determination not only to succeed in the so-called man’s world but likewise to shares her talents and abilities for humanity’s sake. Slowly, she was able to create a niche of her own, particularly in her chosen field. Why, it took a Cagayana of a regional director to send a message to foreign poachers that enough is enough. During the early days of her relentless campaign, she eats threats for breakfast. Director Ayson was unfazed. But that’s water under the bridge now because she was given the authority to protect the water resources of the country in the Cagayan Valley region and successfully transformed herself into a modern day sentinel of the Northern Seas. She continuously contributes to the national coffers by way of fines and penalties against poachers who thought that the Northern Philippine waters is their economic playground. But just as she thought she is on leave from her legal battles came a worldwide phenomenon called climate change.
“Women has a big role to play. It’s not a matter of economic class, race or creed. It’s just a matter of plain common sense,” she said.
She said global warming can be mitigated right from the home in simple water conservation efforts or the proper management of waste.
“Women should be active in this regard,” she added. As head of a government agency, she believes the powers that go with the position can become an effective tool to mitigate the phenomenon. In this year’s celebration of Women’s Month, she believes her specie has gone a long way based on the results of their centuries-old struggles. “So we now have the Women’s Desk, Day Care center, center for lactating mothers, and various programs geared toward the development of women,” she said as a matter of fact. Truth to tell, she says, women now enjoy equal opportunity with men, be it in the government or in the private sector. As a woman, Director Jovita Ayson is an emblem of beauty and intelligence, an enigma that harbors a myriad thoughts and emotions within the crucible of privacy. As an afterthought, the Yemen Times has this to say: “As a great leader is said to be backed by a great woman, a prosperous nation is backed by the significant contribution of its woman power.”
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Fiesta Na Bab-bay Ta Tana Nac Cagayan
A Women’s Month Special Supplement
The Lady Advocate of Sustainable Development “E
nvironment and economics could go hand in hand,” this anecdote is proven by an award-winning career executive service officer, a regional director and currently the handler of the region’s highest policy making body’s rein. If being recognized as an exemplary government official is like winning the lotto game, Engineer Milagros A. Rimando, CESO II, would have already been a millionaire many times over. In her years of service as the chief secretariat of the Regional Development Council (RDC) region 2 and the regional director of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Rimando is hailed as the true and living advocate of sustainable development, gearing up the region’s potentials into its height of development. As NEDA regional director, she was instrumental in steering Region II to be the Most Outstanding Regional Office for three consecutive years, from 2004 to 2006. She was also adjudged as the Most Outstanding Regional Director for the years 2004 In the middle of 2010, the lady director and 2006. In 2007, she was named as one of the Outstanding Career Executive Service Officers by the Career Executive Service Board sat down as the acting chairwoman of the for her innovative contributions that institutionalized regional Regional Development Council (RDC), development planning as the the highest policy making body that pushes springboard for environmentally projects and programs for the betterment of the sustainable and economically entire region, when nobody from the endorsed dynamic regional chief executive for RDC chairmanship was approved. Up to this time, Director Rimando development. In 2008-2010, Rimando is still handling the rein of the council to envisioned Cagayan continuously drive the region towards national Valley as an economic and and global trend of development. She was also the brain of the region’s development giant, respectful of nature and the environment. vision as the “Philippine’s Prime Cereal She is credited for drawing Producer and Northern Gateway,” considering up the Cagayan Valley Flood that Cagayan Valley is an agricultural region, Mitigation Master Plan to rich with biodiversity and a gateway for mitigate the damage caused investment potentials and opportunities. Director Rimando is truly a woman by floods. She likewise crafted the Cagayan Riverine ahead of her time, having the knack for Zone Development Plan identifying problems and drawing plans to to address the perennial solve them. Her ability to harness human and problem of limited water technical resources and draw the support and in the region during the dry collaboration not only of her partner agencies season, and to protect and but of the community as well is further proof conserve the river’s fishery that CESOs can be effective change agents and aquatic resources as with the right mix of competence, vision, and commitment. (Oliver T. Baccay) well as its biodiversity. 4
Fiesta Na Bab-bay Ta Tana Nac Cagayan
A Women’s Month Special Supplement
Priestess of Technology L
ike her nameshake of a princess, Director Urdujah Tejada of DOST-2 has always been on the warpath against poverty in the countrysides and elsewhere in the region. She is on a full battle gear armed with all the technologies this country can muster to be transferred to those wanting to shake off low productivity. Dedication and commitment best describe the lady Director, who virtually rose from the ranks to head science and technology in the region, a feat not new to women like her who have become competitive as ever. The Director always believes in the power of women amidst the equality of gender. As the keeper of the technology flame in this part of the country, she knew how big and challenging the task is.
“Being a woman is already a challenge in itself,” she would say. Like the rest of the gang (read: lady directors in the region), Jaye, a term of endearment, is always on the go beating deadlines, eternally attending all sorts of meetings and seminars while juggling her role as a family woman.
What she assures, she delivers and walks her extra mile, hoping that thru her agency’s interventions, the people will finally be snatched from the claws of ignorance and poverty. The various projects she led, assisted by an equally competent staff and personnel, has addressed the need to empower women like her and to harness their full productivity potentials. Despite government limitations, she pursued for projects never before seen in recent years. She went on to develop aquaculture, despite the advent of climate change, which generate an average annual income of Php70 million for fish farmers. She strengthened marketability and productivity of traditional agricultural products to include home-based economic activities. As a woman and a woman leader, she says her clients have become the adrenalin rush while her personal and official family are her emotional backbone. While she has reaped awards and recognitions, she has taken them all as footnotes to footnotes to her personal and professional gratification to serve the marginalized. For Director Tejada, her being a Regional Director is temporary but her mission to serve is permanent. (By Benjie S. De Yro)
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Fiesta Na Bab-bay Ta Tana Nac Cagayan
J
ust when you thought members of the media sleep on their posts, a journalist, with a rookie reporter in tow, successfully got an exclusive interview with a top government man whose staff wanted to oust.
A Women’s Month Special Supplement which sometimes made her the envy of every nonthinking journalists, who, during those days, rely more on phone interviews. The famous singer-composer Dolly Parton has challenged the world, women in particular, that if they want the rainbow, they’ve got to put up with the rain. Such has always been one of the dictums of Director Licas who was never afraid of challenges, who seems to be untiring even at the high’s and low’s of her professional career. As a woman, she knows her strengths and limitations yet one who sees black when it’s black. No ifs nor buts. With ‘ Women Weathering Climate Change’ as this year’s theme on Woman Celebration, she was constantly asked by persistent and insistent fellow journalists what she’s been up to towards the advancement of women in relation to climate change. The Director is one of the earliest woman-members of the multi –sectoral Forest Protection Committee which focused on averting forest denudation. She heads its Information and Education Campaign sub-committee in the province and in the region.
Keeper of the Flames Not that the guys are made of lesser stuff. It was just that the government official was surrounded by the military. The man himself was seen as dangerous because earlier that night, he had his periodic unimaginable tantrums which bordered on potential violence. There she was. Maximizing to the hilt her journalistic charms and intelligence, the official mellowed when he saw her. Exclusivity has never been in her vocabulary, thus, she shared the interview with the rest of the gang. It was 1985. During the 1986 first failed coup’ attempt against then young administration of President Corazon Aquino, with the s a m e rookie reporter in tow, Puritz, an endearment to friends, negotiated the Tuguegarao to Aglipay, Quirino road at 6:00 in the evening and reached the area over dirt roads at past 11:00 that night. She has to get the side of the story from a Governor who turned the Philippine flag upside down. Call it woman power but the incidents are just two of the unforgettable experiences as a lady journalist of Philippine Information Agency Director Purita S.Licas. The rest, they say, is journalism history. Today, the acknowledged dean of contemporary Cagayan Valley journalists could only reminisce those perilous coverages
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“Women have always been into issues on global warming,” she declared.
Despite her frame, she joins environmentalists trek suspected denuded forest covers and likewise checks on operations of multi-sectoral check points established by the government. “It’s a pity that kaingeros follow concessionaries right after the latter’s operations. That added to the unabated abuse of the forest lands,” she said as a matter of fact. These days, she religiously attends seminars a n d trainings on anything about the environment as she believes everybody should take a share in the totality of protecting and conserving the only planet we’ve got. In a sense, she keeps the torch of influence forever burning in the hearts and minds of a thinking society. Sense and sensibility becomes her. (Benjie S. De Yro)
Fiesta Na Bab-bay Ta Tana Nac Cagayan
A Women’s Month Special Supplement municipality after successfully implementing environmental protection and conservation programs for three consecutive years. Lallo was also adjudged as regional champion on the Philippine Garbology Marathon and finalist in the national level. Other than this, BM Olive is the friendliest local legislator of her time, making appearances left and right in different activities and concerns as agencies and organizations invite her as guest of honor. To further know who this lady is, here are some of views about By Oliver T. Baccay her: “Board Olive- triple B: Beautiful, Bubbly and Brainy,” Teresa Campos, radio reporter. “Masayahin! Bubbly, vivacious, talented, walang kiyeme,” Megie, nutritionist. “A passionate leader,” Bridgette Mayor, information officer. “Maabilidad, matalino, very creative and a down-toearth public official,” Digna Pagulayan, broadcaster.
Will Power
M
ost politicians banner their agenda environmental protection and conservation, but rare are those who really show significant accomplishments which could be considered as legacy in championing environment. Ladies and gentlemen, meet a lady official who really championed solid waste management in her serious and tough implementation of the solid waste management law, Honorable Maria Olivia B. Pascual, former mayor of Lallo, Cagayan and now board member of the 1st district. Tagged as “Babaeng Maaasahan”, Olive truly a catchall line for all the efforts she does as a lady local chief executive and a legislator of her vision for every Cagayano. She was a business woman turned politician and a known environmentalist. In 2007 to 2010, during her journey as local chief executive, Board Member Olive made a difference. She introduced several innovations and initiatives that paved way to the developments of Lallo town, garnering left and right recognitions, regional and national, to include her successful programs on health, nutrition, women empowerment, culture and sports, livelihood, education, environmental protection and others. Of these, Pascual championed the implementation of the solid waste management act, strictly enforced the solid waste segregation, implementing proper waste disposal and establishing a model sanitary landfill that meet the standard of the environment management bureau. She further enjoined all stakeholders in the tree planting of the town’s tree, “Lubeg”, an indigenous fruit tree. These significant projects of the former Mayor and now Board Member Maria Olivia Bautista Pascual made Lallo a hall of fame awardee as the cleanest and greenest
“Dedicated, hardworking, and enthusiastic are the best words which capture the spirit of my boss. Workaholic she is in the very positive way, she does things in the best standard of excellence.” Michael Masirag, legislative staff.
Politics may be far from her credentials, yet people who really know her and worked with her proudly but humbly shout that she excudes the character of the very politician that people quest for. She is sensitive and compassionate to the people who need her which she has always been as politician. Her battle cry is service to the optimum standard of integrity. Up to this time, she stands in the legislative body of the province to fight for the environment, women, health, nutrition, sanitation and others that she believes helpful not only for the district she is tasked to represent and work for but all throughout the province. My personal view about her? She’s absolutely the champion of solid waste management, the mega shining star for all seasons in the Cagayan political arena! #
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Fiesta Na Bab-bay Ta Tana Nac Cagayan
A Women’s Month Special Supplement
Women’s Silent Shouts T
he Rural Improvement Club (RIC) is a successful organization of empowered women, foreseen to be instrumental in bringing out development and societal change. It has been observed that through the years, RIC members pride themselves as performers in the implementation of development services basically starting from the “smallest unit of society” that eventually improve and mark prints to the map of the country. As proof of RIC’ success, here is a story of women sector empowered and able to show difference in their significant roles towards societal development. Have a glance of the journey towards sustainable development and progress of the Sto Domingo RIC of Alicia, Isabela, adjudged as regional most outstanding RIC in 2011. The group was founded in 1990 with only 50 members that started with nothing and made a venue for a relationship and camaraderie among women member in the community. With much eagerness in promoting women and family welfare, the organization could not carry-out their projects and activities due to lack of financial capability, until 1994, the set of officers has institutionalized policies to generate funds for the club’s
projects. With only minimal fund from the dues of the members, the group was able to establish different small livelihood such as soap making, candies, balut, and native products like bags, hats, decors and hog dispersal among members. Due to the success of the projects, the members increased to 200, generating more funds for more projects that benefit not only the members but also the community. Anent this, the group was able to source fund for the construction of a multi-purpose drying pavement from the agriculture department. They further revived the communal fishpond, again helps feed the people of the said barangay, and likewise opened catering services for all occasions. The group had been also active in community service. The members involved themselves in all activities and programs of the barangay, especially on environmental protection as they volunteer to initiate in a clean and green programs and advocacies within their community.
Truly, the power of united women can make a difference; it can be channel of change for everyone and the community. Women’s
role towards national development is very vital; it starts from the smallest unit, the barangay. (Oliver T. Baccay)
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Fiesta Na Bab-bay Ta Tana Nac Cagayan
T
his is a story of an Aeta mother who speaks from a heart seasoned by true-to-life experiences, dreams and desires for her family and the community. Meet Marita Mondejar, a mother with five children, lives within the Agta community at Barangay Agugaddan, Penablanca, Cagayan. She’s not just an ordinary member of the Aeta community. She is also the most respected woman in the group being a former first lady, a successor chieftain, and now a vice-chieftain. Marita and her family live just like other Aetas. They stay in a traditional “kubo,” eat vegetables fruits and other fresh products, and hunt wild animals. They survive by selling forest products like orchids, rattan, wild animals, and plants. However, Marita said getting these forest products nowadays is difficult. They are seasonal, other local residents also compete with them, and it’s now prohibited. That is why most of them are now venturing on other livelihood and services to earn for a living. In the 1990s, her husband was chieftain of the community. But when her husband died, Marita took the chieftainship to pursue with the endeavors of her late husband and to make the community intact. According to Marita, she never thought of becoming a leader in the height of performing her duty as both mother and father to her children, she grappled to pave the pathways of her children to education. During her times as a leader, she made a difference. She introduced reforms to her constituents that made them all embrace and involve in governance. Education was one of her agenda, setting her family as an example to realize the value of education among their tribe. It is a wish of every mother to see her children become successful in life. Every mother dreams that one day she will be recognized as a mother of a great man or woman. “This is the
A Women’s Month Special Supplement high school recognition rites, the “Cadet of the Year” award which was given to son Albert Mondejar in 1999 and “Cadette of the Year” in 2000 to daughter Emilyn Mondejar, for their exemplary performance, dedication, and commitment in the Reserve Officer Training Corps. Emilyn was the most courageous of them all when, without fear and self-discrimination, she entered University of Cagayan Valley, formerly Cagayan Colleges Tuguegarao, to earn a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She experienced all hardships in her studies but able to step and finish third year of her education; however, due to poverty, she stopped. She went to Manila to earn to continue pursuing her dreams of becoming a teacher in the future. For Marita, her daughter’s step to the tertiary education, mingling with the high profile people, rich students as well as in going with the trend of school life, is already a great accomplishment.
“Maginanama nak nga maski zinan la isa kanyo anak ku ya makabalin tase mepasitak pay kanyo kavulun nga makaya mi ya mappagilammu en ya importansya ya edukasyon. Marik ammu nu addet sonu hanna pero ammuk niyan allak ya Diyos,” (I am hopeful that even just one among my children would be able to finish college to show also to my companion that education is very important. I don’t how and when, but I believe God will make a way), she said.
With the perseverance of Marita and the obedience and courage of her children in walking through the stairs of education, other parents within their community were able to realize the importance of education. Now, all grade school-aged children were enrolled in the nearest elementary school while some of the teenagers were enrolled in high schools. As member of the society, Marita also became active in her town’s activities especially during festivities as she contributes much to the development of the tourism industry. She is used to be tapped by the local government to join the tourism team to stand as living testimonies that the government never failed to perform its obligation for indigenous people and tribes as well as the environment where they live in. Today, because of her senior age, she has relinquished her position to her younger brother, Villamor Salbino, as the community’s chieftain, but Marita still stands as the vice chieftain, continuing to live as example to others, and still passionate in bridging the gap between their community and the civil society. afterall, colors never matter for mother like her. (Oliver T. Baccay)
Breaking the Barriers essence of motherhood that’s why it is an important career,” she said. Despite hardships in life, Marita exerts her effort to push her children to school, study in order to have good future. Despite belonging to the indigenous group, Marita was never discouraged to send her children to school. She narrated that at first her children were hesitant to go to school because they were ashamed and the school was quite far from where they live. She went on to encourage them in order to have a good future. She is quite happy that four of her children finished elementary and high school. Two of them have successfully passed secondary school with distinction, garnering one of the most prestigious awards that everyone is longing to snatch in
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Fiesta Na Bab-bay Ta Tana Nac Cagayan
S
he has defied the family tradition. Instead of pursuing a degree in education, she vowed to become a social worker instead. It was a risk, the same risk she successfully managed as the municipal social welfare and development officer of Penablanca, the town she now calls her own. Excelsis Razote De Leon epitomizes service above self. The kind of service the government is wanting. ” Baby” to everybody, she has managed to be on top of the heap, always concocting bright ideas earning respect from her fellow social workers and the clients she vowed to serve. As a woman, she is driven, motivated even, as she successfully balanced her multifarious role as a mother, wife and a perceived antidote to Penablanca’s disaster woes. She can be Ang Lee’s ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ as she pursues assigned tasks. Never mind if some sectors, bless their souls, have time and again tried to pull her down. It’s the Philippines afterall and the crab mentality is part of culture, whether we like it or not. She can be Helen Keller, the’ Miracle Worker’ as in 2005, her town was awarded the Best Government Organization Emergency Responders in the country. This was the same year the Pinacanauan River was adjudged the cleanest river by the provincial government. Mayor Marlyn Taguinod told evaluators to the CSC Awards last year, De Leon is a 24/7 worker who has braved the strongest typhoons, crossed the Cagayan River during floods, rode on a horse to reach the innermost barangays of the town. As all social workers will tell, being one entails a lot of sacrifices.
A Women’s Month Special Supplement Despite her gargantuan tasks, with more than 40 functions, she has managed to rear her children as good citizen with a supportive of an Engineer-husband who understood her job since Day 1. How does she manage disaster risks? “The lack of knowledge by the local officials and the public about hazards that may affect them, the associated risks, probable damage and precautionary measures to be taken, is perhaps the most significant gap in present day efforts to mitigate the potentially disastrous effects of most hazards,” she said. It can be said that she is the mother of Rescue 24 of Peñablanca which has been reaping accolades from all over. She was able to prove to doubting Thomases, that, afterall, disaster risk management has never been the sole domain of men. “In this kind of job, it’s more on common sense. The rest follows,” she added. If you look into her accomplishments and the honor that goes with them, she could now rest on her laurels. However, the social worker in her remains the adrenalin that pushes her to do more, to share more for humanity’s sake. As the country’s most outstanding social worker at the same time the incumbent President of her profession’s organization in the province, Excelsis has her hands full the rest of the year and the years to come. “Helping people encompasses the efforts to save their lives and properties, to assure their safety and security, and to help them have and maintain a dignified existence,” she said. So next time you’re in Penablanca and you chance upon a woman directing rescuers, distributing relief goods, lecturing the young or dancing with the senior citizens, that’s De Leon, a mother, a wife but best of all, an empowered woman. (By Benjie S. De Yro)
Risk Taker, Risk Manager
“Mababaw lang naman ang kaligayahan ng mga tulad ko. For as long as our clients are happy because we delivered what should be delivered, then makakatulog ka na ng mahimbing,” she said. 10
Fiesta Na Bab-bay Ta Tana Nac Cagayan
A Women’s Month Special Supplement
The Wind Beneath Farmers’ and Fisherfolk’s Wings
S
he can be a jack of all trades but being a servant leader makes her day. Dr. Mildred Soriano Salvador-Abella is a development specialist, a farmer, Church worker, writer, a mother and Cagayan’s indefatigable Provincial Agriculturist. From a mere agricultural technologist to her present position is rather a long way for this lovable woman who described herself as a persevering and hardworking mother of three. One of the most innovative agricultural leaders of Northern Luzon, Abella is a hands-on official who delivers the goods right at the doorsteps of her clients, the farmers and fisherfolks, 24/7. Her burning the midnight oil didn’t come unnoticed, though. Thru her, Cagayan province went on a winning streak in the national Gawad Saka Awards in 2008 to 2010, a feat which likewise merited a special citation from the Department of Agriculture in the region. It was actually a double win in 2010 when the prestigious SL Agritech Corporation awarded the province as the Highest Yielder of SL-8H hybrid rice seeds. Yet, she was unfazed. Guided by her strong faith (Dr. Abella is a Pastor-Editor) and her sincerity in the performance of her duty, she simply keeps on coming up with innovative programs as if there’s no tomorrow. Only last year, she staged the indigenous food cooking festival, a first in the history of the Aggao Nac Cagayan Celebration. In February this year during the birthday of Governor Alvaro Antonio, her Cagayano Food Show debuted to a surprised yet applauding audiences.
Just when Cagayan thought she is sleeping on her accolades, she brought out what she’s been figuratively cooking the past few months. “Oh my God!,” Cagayanos chorused. But Abella exclaimed, “Oh My Gulay!” Thus another idea was brought to life. During the interview, she showed this writer a concoction of veggy and other waste materials to come up with a growth stimulant if only to further her agricultural programs for the Cagayano. What drives her? I asked. “My faith, my commitment to God. If you do good to your fellowmen,you are doing it for God. If you did your job well, you did it for God,” she said.
As a fixture to anything agriculture and fishery in this part of the country, Abella has been on a hunting spree these last few years in search for new ideas, concepts and possibilities.
“We should always be on guard as technology is fleeting,” she said as a matter of fact. On Climate Change and women, she said that if all women become instrument in the protection of environments, the country can easily mitigate the effects of the global phenomenon. Known for her soprano voice and always on the top list of doxologist during important official and private functions, Mildred, a term of endearment by friends, can be your sincerest friend. With all of these things going great for the agricultural sector in Cagayan, surely, Dr. Mildred Abella is the wings beneath the farmers and fisherfolks wings. As Jonathan Seagull was once advised, fly high if you must but learn first the lessons in flying. Dr. Abella has been doing that. (Benjie S. De Yro)
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Fiesta Na Bab-bay Ta Tana Nac Cagayan
A Women’s Month Special Supplement
The Power of Touch T
he aid of divine providence plus the package of hardwork, patience and technology bring‌ these are experiences of Telly Baltazar in her journey in reaching her shining star attributed to her passion of cultivating fertile soils that eventually produced fruits of healthy living.
Telly, was awarded as Magsasaka Syentista for Vegetable in Cagayan that paved way for her to snatch the Gawad Saka regional champion award for high value commercial crops farmer last year, conferred by the Department of Agriculture. She started with a very simple living, she was then a government employee but decided to resign to focus on farming together with her husband. They started with one and a half hectare of land planted with corn and later acquired additional hectares from the proceeds of the corn plant. To maximize the use of their land, she practices diversified planting and crop rotation. Since corn does not have stable price during wet season, she decided to shift her production practices to undergo off-season vegetable for solanaceous crop and cabbage during dry season. This made her a lot of challenges that require her to search for latest technologies in vegetable planting. From driven plow and wooden trailer, she has shifted also to mechanized farming. Her efforts were not wasted as she was able to generate P2.9 million with 701 percent return of investment in 2009-2010 from the production of cabbage, eggplant, tomato, cauliflower and green corn. She was also able to help other people as she employed 15 gardeners and generated 30 jobs.
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Her farming venture was not an impediment to her involvement in social activities in the community because she has been active in community development activities. With her knowledge and experience in agricultural production technology, she shares her talent to other farmers in the community. Now, Telly’s passion in farming never ceases. According to her, it is already part of her life to cultivate fertile soil not only for herself but also for others. Her efforts of introducing diversified farming as well as the technologies in planting vegetable are very significant towards the thrusts of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Truly, Telly is a perfect example of a woman weathering climate change in her own special way. (Oliver T. Baccay)
Fiesta Na Bab-bay Ta Tana Nac Cagayan
A Women’s Month Special Supplement
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PAPPABALO Ta ngamin nga nanguffun nikami tapenu mallawan yaw nga pabbibigan, alawatannu y napafutu nga pappabalo na katagitadday nikami taw ta Philippine Information Agency Region 2. Mabbalo taw ira nga totolay: Mr. Michael Masirag, Legislative Staff, Office of Board Member Pascual Ms. Lilian Marasigan – NEDA Staff Department of Agriculture (Valley Bounty Magazine) Agriyamanan, official agri-news magazine of Cagayan government Offfice of the Provincial Agriculturist Peñablanca Social Welfare and Development Office Administrative Staff of PIA: Amelia Canillas Marites Adarme Suzette Adduru Edgar Mallonga Modesto Ferrer Antonio Gayagoy Michael Santos Dakal nga Pappabalo y meyawa gapa ta kara: Director Jovita Ayson (BFAR) Director Mila Rimando (NEDA) Director Urdujah Tejada (DOST) Director Purita Licas (PIA) Board Member Olivia Pascual Excelsis De Leon (LGU Peñablanca) Telly Baltazar Marita Mondejar Dr. Mildred Abella (OPA) RIC of Alicia, Isabela
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