Cradling hands, nurturing heart

Baras MAFC Chairperson Oropesa shares how she was inspired to persevere in 

reaching out to their remote town at the awarding ceremony for the 2015 Search for 

Outstanding Rural Women.

“It is an honor to be a woman. We play a big role in shaping our nation,” said Baras MAFC Chairperson Luzviminda Oropesa as she encouraged women to take part in nation-building.

An awardee of the prestigious 2015 Search for Outstanding Rural Women of the Department of Agriculture, Chairperson Oropesa endeavored in promoting organic agriculture through setting up a demo farm with her own resources.

Her passion for agriculture started when she was with Nicua-Leyte Ironsand Corporation as corporate social responsibility officer prior to her retirement. 

“I was tasked to manage soil rehabilitation work of mined areas in Leyte. I realized that there is more to it than just soil rehabilitation work, so, right after my retirement, I went back to my hometown in Baras, Catanduanes and started agricultural development projects,” she recalled.

It was in 2011 that she decided to develop her 3.3-hectare farm, “What we eat should holistically nurture us. However, majority of the foods available in the market today are heavily mixed with fertilizers and pesticides that could harm us. So I decided to go organic and grow my family’s own food.”

Chairperson Oropesa imparts her knowledge in agriculture to the other 

members of her community.

But it didn’t end with her family as she also started sharing her knowledge in organic farming within her community because she believes that “through organic agriculture, every farmer would become sustainable.”

My heart is always with the small community of Baras. It is where I was born, it is where I was raised and it is where I would spend the rest of my life. It feels great when I wake up to simple living each morning. Agriculture makes me appreciate my Creator more,” she shared.

Her vision

Last July, the Outstanding Rural Women awardee was elected as MAFC Chairperson in Baras, Catanduanes.

Being new to the council, she aims to establish a good partnership with the Baras local government unit (LGU).

“I hope that the LGU will understand that we are their partners towards agricultural development,” she said.

She also envisions that someday, more families will engage in farming: “Our farmers are already old, I hope that their children will continue their parents’ endeavors in tilling the land where they were born.”

Her mission

“Everyone was born with a mission. Mine is to help farmers improve the quality of their lives,” Chairperson Oropesa said.

She believes that changing one’s mindset is the first step towards development.

“What the farmers needed was someone to guide them, thus I opened my farm so they could learn from it and I could learn from them. That’s how the Happy Farmers Producers Integrated and Livelihood Association, Inc., or HAFPILAINC Farm, started. It aims to empower responsible and sustainable rural farmers” she emphasized.

“Women have the hands that rocks our country’s cradle and have the heart that nurtures with patience. It is our mission to make life beautiful,” she underscored.