A new day rises - peace finally comes to Bondoc Peninsula

Armed conflict has ceased to be a regular fare for the poor people of Bondoc Peninsula, once a hotbed of insurgency, in Quezon Province. There’s reason for insurgency to have made its mark in the rich fertile farms simply because nearly half of its people remained poor and trapped in vulnerable forms of employment and land tenure insecurity. Some 80 per cent of its people relied on subsistence farming for survival. Hand-to-mouth existence is common with people forced to accept whatever work is available just to survive.

The cycle of poverty, lack of decent work and conflict kept development at bay. It was in 2010 when an “Inter-agency programme to Nurture Peace, Security, and Decent Work in conflict areas of the Philippines” begun with the International Labour Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization. The Japanese government provided funds and was coursed through the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security, which later partnered with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.

The project was conceived to help address the roots of insurgency in the area, foremost of which is poverty and lack of decent work. The provision of health and education, knowledge of basic human rights and the reduction of poverty are some requirements to achieve human security. The project was implemented to complement the efforts of both local and national governments to bring sustainable peace and development in Bondoc Peninsula.

ILO and FAO did consensus building, participatory decision-making and opening channels for dialogue among different economic and social partners which made the Local Economic Development (LED) approach effective to ensure a new round of local economic development for the towns of Unisan, Catanauan, San Narciso and Mulanay – all mute witnesses to violent armed conflict.

“In post-conflict areas, the effects are more pronounced at the local level. More often, it is the poorest members of society, their families and loved-ones who bear the brunt of economic burden of conflict,” said Director Lawrence Jeff Johnson of the ILO Country Office for the Philippines. He added while the Bondoc-LED addresses the root causes of conflict, much more needs to be done to ensure sustained and inclusive growth.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process provided the necessary tools to objectively assess the needs of the community.

“Within three years, the programme was able to help bring about positive changes among vulnerable groups and communities in Bondoc Peninsula,” Director Eileen A. Jose of the OPAPP said.

She added the Bondoc-LED builds on sustainable economic development processes and tools anchored on capacity enhancement and partnership building as the overall strategy of empowering communities.

Food and Agriculture Organization’s Assistant Representative for Programme Aristeo Portugal said the Bondoc-LED in Quezon Province is rightfully situated in an agriculture economy. By introducing programmes that would restore, rehabilitate and improve farming and fishing endeavours in vulnerable communities are basic requirements for lasting peace and long-term economic development.

“FAO is strongly committed to support the peace process in the area,” Portugal added.

The project was conceived to address the needs of the most vulnerable people in the area. Consensus-building was an effective tool in identifying the people’s needs including sustainable livelihoods, health care and social protection.

Agricultural and non-agriculture interventions were then implemented.

Project beneficiaries like Milagros Samarita, Zeny dela Puerta and Myrna Alpay share a common experience from the training and livelihood opportunities extended them by the LED programme. Samarita, a TESDA programme beneficiary for therapeutic massage, now earns some extra amount she uses to send her children to school.

Dela Puerta said she feels good being able to attend to the needs of her family, especially her children through her bank account. The project began encouraging people in the community to put a premium on savings.

As far as Alpay, a midwife from Unisan is concerned, she acquired better skills in midwifery through the LED programme.

The Bondoc LED project focused on creating industries from locally abundant materials as coconut, labno and buri. Coco-sugar is now processed and sold by local residents. Women started to earn additional income from handicrafts, which now find their way to the export market. Agriculture waste processing has also been a viable income-generating activity through charcoal briquetting.
In Unisan town alone, buri has provided employment to some 100 men and women not to mention hundreds of detention prisoners at the Quezon Provincial Jail in Lucena City.

“I’m happy because I can see a future for this industry we’ve started as it helped many people” Flor Maleon, president of the Unisan Weavers Association said.

Today, at the Rockwell Tent, the project beneficiaries will showcase their products in time for the ceremonial project turn-over to the Philippine government and local communities of Bondoc Peninsula. Buri bags, labno handicrafts, native swine, upland rice and coco sugar are among the products to be put on display.

As far as Army Col. Consolito Yecla, 74th Battalion based in Mulanay, Quezon was quoted as saying referring to the LED beneficiaries “You can finally see hope in their eyes, you can see it in how they talk, in their smiles, you see that they have found a new light in their lives and a new direction.”

For further information please contact:

Ms Minette Rimando
ILO Media and Public Information
Tel: +63 2 580 9900 / 580 9905
Email

Mr JP Alipio
Field Coordinator, Bondoc-LED Project
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