44 former rebels receive livelihood kits from DTI-Bohol

A total of 44 former rebels in Bohol who voluntarily surrendered to authorities received livelihood starter kits from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Friday. Photo courtesy: DTI-Bohol

While other areas in the country are hell-bent on fighting the long-standing insurgency problem, the province of Bohol, with an open heart, is embracing and helping those who returned to the folds of law.

Some 44 former rebels became recipients of the Livelihood Seeding Program (LSP) under the Pangkabuhayan sa Pag Bangon at Ginhawa (PBG) Program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) during the turnover ceremony on Friday at the Bohol provincial Capitol. 

The   PBG   program   is   a   DTI   initiative   aiming   to   uplift   and   provide   livelihood   assistance   topotential and existing entrepreneurs, especially micro enterprises, in areas hit by both naturaland man-made disasters, including those affected by local armed conflicts. 

Each livelihood package  granted to  each  of the  beneficiaries are  in the form of informationmaterials,   entrepreneurship   training,   business   counseling,   and   actual   goods   amounting   to P10,000 supporting the establishment or re-establishment of their business activities.

Arist and environmentalist Pedro Angco shows his work  using old slippers and other discarded materials he collected from the sea. Photo courtesy: Kien Alphe Garsuta

The beneficiaries who came from 17 towns in Bohol is the second batch of PBG beneficiaries in the province who were former rebels, as 24 individuals were also given such assistance by DTI-Bohol last May 2020. 

Types of projects selected are sari-sari store package, rice and agrivetsupplies retailing, hog, cattle, and goat raising, eggs trading, bahalina production, bread andpastry making, and farming.

Personally conveying their support and encouragement to the beneficiaries were DTI Assistant Secretary Asteria C. Caberte, DTI-Bohol Provincial Director Marisol L. Balistoy, Governor ArthurC. Yap, Vice-Governor Rene L. Relampagos, 1st  District Congressman Edgar M. Chatto, 2nd District Congressman Aris C. Aumentado representative Nelson Pon, and Major Mozart Jaque,Executive Officer of the Philippine Army (PA) 47th Infantry Battalion stationed in Carmen, Bohol.

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This interesting information from the National Museum of the Philippines-Bohol: 

DID YOU KNOW?

Bohol nests the most precious Dinosaur Egg the country ever has, in the form of "Asin Tibuok". 

This art of salt making in Bohol dates back to the pre-colonial period wherein our ancestors trade salt for rice and vice-versa.

Now, only two families in Alburquerque produces this rare artisanal sea salt.

Dinosaur's Egg? Now, only two families in Alburquerque produces this rare artisanal sea salt. Photo: Asin Tibook Facebook

Nestorio Manongas and his family have their production area in Eastern Poblacion and Mario Baluarte and family in the village of Sta. Filomena.

It takes a lot of passion and love for their work to create this masterpiece since it is a very labor-intensive activity in which the entire process may take three to four months from soaking the coconuts into the sea to burning these using local hardwoods and then slowly roasting the clay pots containing the salt. It boasts of its rare flavor: smoky, sweet salt which comes from different ingredients used to make the "Asin tibuok".

It may be a dying industry but unless it's completely gone, this art can still be preserved and passed on to the next generation of Alburanons.

Another interesting person is Pedro Angco Jr., an artist from Baclayon town, who creates artworks using old slippers, discarded wires, and plastics that washed up on the shore of Barangay Laya. 

Angco and his works became viral in the social media when a youth leader Kien Alphe Garsuta and his fellow youth leaders discovered him at his humble hut. 

Angco won the second prize in the sculpture category at the GSIS Art Competition in 2017. 

Interesting! Interesting! 

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