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| 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.
***
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.
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| 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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