Farmers of remote Samar village thank the gov’t for rice mill, water system

MOTIONG, Samar, Oct. 15 (PNA) -- Farmers in the upland village of New Minarong here have thanked the national government for their new rice mill and water system.

President of the New Minarong Rice Mill Association, Elizabeth Paculaba, said the rice mill has not only helped farmers in their village, but those from 15 other upland villages as well.

“The rice mill not only eased our burden in transporting our palay (unhusked rice) to the town center, reducing rice wastage, but it has also provided us additional income. That is why we are thankful to the government for granting us this project,” Paculaba said.

New Minarong is only 2.3 km. away from the town center but it takes 30 minutes to reach it due to bumpy roads.

In their two years of operation, the association has already earned more than PHP100,000 from rice milling.

The rice mill was funded through the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan - Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Service (Kalahi-CIDSS), which enables communities and local government units to choose, design and implement sub-projects that address their most pressing needs.

On the village's new water system, resident Anita Paculaba said preparing food and doing the laundry have become easy.

In the past, residents had to travel for about 15 minutes just to get potable water.

“Without Kalahi-CIDSS, this project would never have been realized because the budget of our village is not sufficient to fund projects like this,” Elizabeth told reporters.

According to Mayor Renato Cabael, Motiong town's 30 villages are benefiting from Kalahi-CIDSS, but they need more help, especially in installing a water system and road concreting in interior villages.

“We hope that the government would not only continue to help New Minarong, but also other villages in this town that badly need assistance,” Cabael added. (PNA)
CVL/SQM/ROEL T. AMAZONA/EGR