Sunday, October 4, 2015

Japan’s 2KR-assisted AKBay Program Phase II renews hope in Guiuan


A total of 596 fishing households in Guiuan, Eastern Samar benefitted from the fishing boats and engines provided under the AKBay Program Phase II, while 424 other families were given farming inputs. (Photo courtesy of DA-RFO 8)
After almost two years since typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) struck, the Government of Japan continues to reach out to farming and fishing communities in Eastern Visayas through the Agrikultura: Kaagapay ng Bayang Pinoy Program for Typhoon Yolanda-affected Areas or AKBay Program Phase II.

On September 24, livelihood assistance under the AKBay Program Phase II was given to a total of 1,020 farming and fishing households in Guiuan in a ceremonial handover held at the town plaza.

Guiuan, a first class municipality in Eastern Samar with more than 47,000 people, was where Yolanda first made landfall, destroying over 10,000 homes as well as the locals’ major sources of livelihood: fishing and coconut farming.

Through the AKBay Program Phase II, the Government of Japan aims to assist Guiuananons restore their livelihood after the calamity.

Implemented under the 2KR Program, the AKBay Program Phase II aims to contribute to the recovery efforts of 8,500 displaced farming and fishing households in Biliran, Eastern Samar, Samar and Leyte. This is in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF).

Each aid package, worth P15,000, came in the form of farm inputs which include vegetable seeds, fertilizers and farm implements for farming families.

Fishing households, on the other hand, were given different packages such as one fiberglass boat (16 feet long x 16 inches deep x 16 inches wide), one diesel cool air 12hp motorboat engine, and municipal fishing paraphernalia, depending on their needs.

A fisherman starts over

Seventy-four-year-old Francisco Ablay of Barangay Camparang could not hide his excitement over the fishing boat provided to him.
Mang Francisco has been fishing for a living since he was in his teenage years. Until in November 2013, Yolanda robbed him of his lapu-lapu or grouper culture business including some cash and two fishing boats, forcing him to stop fishing for some time.

“I had lost all hope then. I used to earn up to P3,500 for my cultured lapu-lapu before Yolanda swept everything away. But I am thankful that I survived,” he recalled.

Mang Francisco has been living by himself for a few years now after his wife moved to Cavite to take care of their grandchildren. He recalled how he, on the day Yolanda struck, rushed to his nearby relative to save himself from the rising sea waters with nothing but the clothes on his back.

Through the assistance of different institutions, Mang Francisco’s life gradually returned to normalcy. However, because of the loss of his fishing equipment, Mang Francisco could only manage to earn P200 to P600 a week from fishing these days. 

According to Mang Francisco, the fishing boat from the AKBay Program Phase II will indeed help him re-establish his fishery enterprise.

“The assistance given to us by the Japanese Government is no joke. I know for a fact that the boats and engines cost thousands each,” he remarked.

Despite his deteriorating eyesight caused by cataracts, Mang Francisco is determined to get back in business and start culturing lapu-lapu again, “I am thankful to the Government of Japan for helping us here in Guiuan.”

Overflowing gratitude

Rose Mylene Lumagbas, together with her fellow farmers and fisherfolk in Barangay Trinidad, happily welcome their Japanese visitors.
Guiuananons holding ‘thank you’ signage greeted the Japanese officials and representatives from DA Regional Field Office 8, PCAF and the local government upon their arrival at the ceremony.

Among them was the group of Rose Mylene Lumagbas, 28, from Barangay Trinidad. A mother of four, Lumagbas eagerly waited for the boat provided through the AKBay Program Phase II.

“Fishing is our family’s only source of income and it’s the only work we can do since my husband and I were only able to finish high school,” Lumagbas said.

She added that the aid package will help them provide for the needs of their children, “All we ever want is for them to finish college and have a comfortable life.”

Together with her neighbors, Lumagbas travelled for around 30 minutes from the island of Tubabao to attend the ceremonial handover which coincided with the town’s 1st Fishers’ and Farmers’ Day.

PCAF Exec. Dir. Ariel Cayanan pays tribute to the resiliency and speedy recovery of the people of Guiuan after typhoon Yolanda’s onslaught.
Officials who graced the ceremony were First Secretary, Agriculture of the Embassy of Japan Kenji Terada, JICA Representative Yuko Tanaka, DA resident JICA Expert Takashi Fujimori, JICA Philippines Poverty Reduction Section Program Officer Sherilyn Aoyama, PCAF Executive Director Ariel Cayanan, RAFC 8 Chairperson Edgardo Codilla, Guiuan Councilor Cornelio Sison and other Sangguiang Bayan officials, and Eastern Samar PAFC Chairperson Inocencio Morallos.

In his speech, PCAF Exec. Dir. Cayanan lauded the Guiuananons for their resiliency and hoped that the support provided to them through the AKBay Program Phase II will motivate them to carry on the ‘bayanihan’ spirit in their respective communities.

First Secretary, Agriculture Kenji Terada of the Embassy of Japan reaffirms Japan’s commitment to support the realization of the vision for Yolanda-affected areas in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, First Secretary, Agriculture Terada encouraged the beneficiaries in Guiuan to make optimum use of the materials that they received under the AKBay Program Phase II. He also extended his sympathies to the Yolanda-hit locals, saying that the people of Japan are no strangers to calamities either, citing the Great East Japan Earthquake in particular.

“We hope to empower the affected communities for the restoration of the basics of livelihood. I believe our combined efforts will give the beneficiaries renewed hope and determination to overcome their difficulties,” he said.

Prior to the ceremonial handover in Guiuan, distribution activities for over 5,500 farming and fishing households were held in various areas in Biliran, Eastern Samar, Samar and Leyte starting April this year. Capability-building training activities on vegetable production in concerned municipalities have also been undertaken since late last year.

The ceremonial handover for the remaining 1,977 fishing households in the provinces of Biliran and Leyte will be held in the coming months.

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