By
Alfonso T. Ruda
SIAYAN,
Zamboanga del Norte – Sixty rubber farmers here got a financial
assistance amounting to P578,500 from the provincial office of the Department
of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to help them improve and increase their
production.
In
a turnover ceremony held recently at the Farmers Training Center in this
municipality, Senior Labor Employment Officer Aileen Mondejar through its
partner, Kasayanyangan Rural Development Foundation Inc. (KRDFI), handed the
check to the rubber farmers who were all members of the Seriac Rubber Farmers
Association (SRFA) and Sayaw Planters Association (SPA). Both associations
embark on rubber farming.
Mondejar
also made the symbolic handing of planting materials to farmer-beneficiaries
represented by Virgilio Taypen and Cristino Balolot, SRFA and SPA presidents,
respectively.
Speaking
on behalf of Mayor Flora Villarosa, Vice Mayor Daisy Limbang said that “through
this project, 3 to 5 years from now ‘white gold’ (rubber tree latex) will
surely give impact to the lives of the people of Siayan.”
Limbang
also expressed optimism that “with the continuous government support, Siayan
will no longer be considered, sooner or later, the poorest municipality in the
country.”