Chapter 21 - New Frontier Ministries Consolidated Projects from 1978-1987 (Part 1)

       

                                             Chapter 21

         New Frontier Ministries  Consolidated   Projects from   1978 -1987

                                               (PART 1)

The first phase of  my  ministry with CPBC started in  1977 with the Pilot ministry on Urban Industrial Mission (UIM) under Rev. Moley Famillaran  and Rev. Edwin Lopez, CPBC President and General Secretary respectively, with community organizing and labor education. 

Our UIM ministry in Central Panay operates  in 6 municipalities - Duenas, Passi, Lambunao, Bingawan and Calinog in Iloilo and Tapas, in Capiz.  UIM was  assisted with funding  from  the Protestant  Association for Cooperation in Development (EZE), a church program in West  Germany.

During the CPBC General Assembly in Roxas City,  May 1977, the delegates  “expressed grave concerns on specific areas of life  –poverty, malnutrition, ill-health, human dignity, environmental problems, violations of human rights and mental and physical tortures” suffered by  many Convention Baptist constituents and the general populace under the  military rule   of President Marcos dictatorial regimes.

To respond, the CPBC  leadership expanded the ministry of  Urban  Industrial Mission (UIM), and organized the  New Frontier Ministries (NFM), with wider mandate and  coverage to meet the pressing  needs of our people.  The aim of NFM  “was  to help  provide relevant and responsive ministry to people presently struggling and suffering under an oppressive, unjust, and exploitative economic and political system.”

These exploitations, existed  since the   colonization of the Philippines by  Spain. These was  followed  under the  imperial designs of the  United States from 1898 to the present,  a colonial rule that took more than 2   million Filipino  lives, killed by  American soldiers’  bullets and by, sickness and diseases  all over  Luzon, Visayas and  Muslim  Mindanao. 

These   situations were  aggravated further with the imposition of martial rule by President Marcos starting 1972. 

The exploitation  of the Filipino people  expanded  under  the colonial   government of the United States,   with   the Treaty of Paris of 1898. The Filipinos could have improved their lives after they defeated the Spaniards in 1897. But the Americans came, took over power  and   returned   all Spanish  properties  already won  by   Philippine revolutionary forces. 

The Americans returned  all properties in the hands of the Filipino revolutionaries, including  properties of the Roman Catholic churches that were  already   in  hands of the Iglesia Filipina Independente (IFI).

The  Americans returned these  properties to the Spaniards and their descendants in the Philippines.    These  evil land ownership system of the Spanish era,  was  the major  cause of  more than 200 wars and rebellions  fought  by the Filipinos against Spain. It was also  the cause  of the continued wars waged by  the communists  and other rebel forces against the government of the  Philippines  since 1946,  until today, 2017. 

The New Frontier Ministries,  CPBC’s  development arms,  now expanded with  projects that  were  implemented in strategic areas in some parts  of the country.  It provided  beneficiaries &  partners  development education, leadership formation, peasants, workers and fishermen organizing, community based health projects, projects for the  disabled, practical farmers training, appropriate village technologies, organizing of  cooperatives and farmers associations.

It also started   labor education and  organizing of sugar workers in villages with sugar cane plantations.

Our  Biblical reflections in seminars, often touched  the evils of Roman Imperialism,  experienced  and suffered by the Israelites,  who continued their  struggles  and fought the Romans  for many decades.  These Jewish struggles against Roman Imperialism, was  exemplified by  sufferings, executions and death of  Jesus Christ under the Roman rule. 

The  Jewish revolutionary  struggles against the Romans, were  similar to the   struggles  of Filipinos  fighting the Spaniards in some  200 revolts in nearly 400 years, from about  1550 - 1896

The Filipinos in 1898, again fought the   Americans, to   regain the lands  given them by God, but  taken  by the Spanish, and later by  Americans and their descendants.   Filipino nationalists, the communists and Muslims freedom fighters  continued the fight  for these   lands   for  nearly 5 centuries, until the year 2000’s.  

With the CPBC Assembly mandate, in 1977,   despite   apprehensions under Marcos martial rule, we  implemented  the  New Frontier Ministries. We pushed it hard,  to make it a real   development arms of the Convention. It started with building Core groups in different municipalities, that  covered some areas in  Panay   Negros Occidental,  Mindoro & Romblon  and some areas in   Mindanao.

There   were the 8 major  development projects undertaken by the New Frontier Ministries that were implemented and ongoing those times.  

All  NFM projects have well trained   staffs, relevant and  needed activities and a strong   financial resources from partners abroad, ready for effective implementations in Convention areas and the communities. 

With   successful  implementation   of the  projects, we foresaw   that in  20 years,   the  rural and urban  communities  will be  lifted economically, socially and politically with enough social force and political forces, capable of influencing   decision makings   in local, provincial  and national politics. The following were the major  projects NFM  undertook.

(1)   In  1977,   the Urban Industrial Mission project was started in  6  municipalities in Iloilo

 and Capiz – in  Duenas, Lambunao, Calinog, Bingawan, Passi and Tapas, Capiz.  The  project has

 a component of  5 full time staff.  It’s  program were:    Community education,  people’s

organizing,  practical farming, village  appropriate village technologies,   animal dispersals and labor

education and building cooperatives. 

The  staff were Rev. Job Santiago, Project Coordinator, Hernani Bautista, agriculturists, Hector Belloga and Bonifacio Castronuevo, community organizers.  To enable  them to move fast  in the areas of operation, they were provided each with a 125-CC  Honda Motorcycles  with assistance for gasoline. After working for 3 years,  they have  strengthened   village churches and have reached out to motr than   1,000 villages in 6 municipalities, with strong influences in churches and  communities.

(2)   In  1978,  NFM started a small project  in  Upper South Negros with  Pastor Samuel

Antonio.  We    started with  3 female carabaos to help provide  labor for farmers.  Also 3

female cows were provided the community and  Five (5)  horses.

The carabaos will   enable the groups  to earn by plowing the fields and preparations for

planting.  The cows  were  raised, until it gave birth. Then, the cow will be given to another  family

to raise. 

During that time, Pastor Samuel Antonio and his father, Rev. Antonio were working in 24 mountain churches, under the Upper South Negros Conference. After two, years the  horses, cows and carabaos were expanded and doubled.  A fund from the American Baptist Churches, USA was received for the project’s expansions. The projects were invisioned to help strengthen our  ministries in the mountain areas of  Upper South Negros.

Pastor Samuel Antonio, due to   intensified military raids in Upper South Negros, and  under suspicion  by the military as subversive,  later joined the New People’s Army together with his wife.

(3) NFM have also  started  1979  SACADA Development Project,  serving churches and 

hinterland  communities in  7 municipalities of Antique—Barbasa , Culasi, Vaderama,

Patnongon, San Remigio, Sibalom and  San Jose.

Two   full time staff  and 2  parttime workers were employed for 3 years - Rev. Felomino Mosquera and Eupresito Galuego, a CPU agriculture graduate. They were assisted by  two  part time workers.

 The project has labor education and organizing components,   pigs and chicken dispersal and  livelihood assistance. It was first  assisted by the Board of International Ministries of the CPBC. Years later, in 1986,  it was supported with funds from the Baptist Union of Sweden.

It was designed to enable the sacadas who go to Negros  every sugarcane crop season to be trained  and organized and involved in unionism in Antique before being recruited for  Negros.  And those who remained in Antique, will be  trained and mobilized for skills development  and income generating projects

After working, in hinterland villages where NPA operates, the project became hot with the military. But the staff remained committed and worked with ingenuity. They  found themselves  sometimes   training also NPA cadres on appropriate  farming technologies  and technology transfer.

Despite the hot political situations and military suspicions, the project continued in its

mission. 

Rev. Felomino Mosquera, who became politically hot with the military, joined the elections, running for Councilor in the Municipality of  Patnongon, under the left political party, headed  Bernabe Buscayno,  known as Commander Dante,  the first  Commander of the New People’s Army.

Commander Dante  ran   for    Senator with other  senatorial candidates of the Left.  But they were not able to win. The cost of elections were too  high,  for   poor,   progressive leaders to win in a  local, provincial and national elections.

(5)   In  1979, at Camp Higher, we started a Pig Breeding Project and Dispersal,  that was

conceived to  provide sustained sources of piglets for pig dispersals to churches and  communities

in  Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan and Antique.  The piglets provided people, now suffering from ill-health

and poverty due to intensified military and NPA activities, some sources of food, rice, vegetables,

chickens and pigs.

We raised 36 sows and 5 boars at Camp Higher Ground. After 20 months,   the project was able to dispersed  nearly two  hundred piglets to churches and communities in Panay. The  dispersed piglets were  paid by the projects that were now  implemented and existing  in different areas in Panay – Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan and Antique.

The piggery project  also envisions  to provide   continues sources  of manure and compost   fertilizers   for use in  Camp Higher Ground properties, about 52 hectares,  so that it will be made productive and helped  provide needed food for  the people – upland rice,  corns, vegetables, bananas and root crops. In the small river way down, we have started  planting maggui plants, for   fiber and possible  start of weaving  projects in the future.

The Camp Higher Ground Pigs  Projects  in 1978  has two (3) full time staff and 1 part time worker. It was headed by Ptr. Amec Buenafe,  a graduate of the Agriculture   and  a graduate of  College of Theology.  The project was assisted by the Australian Baptist World Aid of the Australian Baptist Convention under Rev.  Geofrey Parish.

We dreamed at   Camp Higher Ground  be   developed a  bigger piggery project, that will provide   sustained source of piglets for the New Frontier Ministries  livelihood projects, under that difficult situations of martial law. We have started to  make  a nursery for planting seeds of cacaos  and rattan to be planted beside the big  trees, for future use.  The piggery project, will surely provide the needed manure and composts to expand farming in the area  of  Cam Higher Ground area.

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5)   In 1985,  the North Iloilo Relief  & Rehab   Project was  organized  in response

 to the devastation of Typhoon Undang. Three villages in Batad, 6 villages in  Estancia, 2 villages

in Balasan and 6 villages in Carles were assisted and supported  by the Baptist Union of Sweden

and the Protestant Associations for Cooperation and Development (EZE)  in West Germany.

The project has a component of 8 staff—Betty Solacito, Social Worker, Pastor   Jessie Albestor,

Susan Panes,  Lorna Lapido, a Nurse, Evelyn Saavedra, Social  Worker,  Melinda de la Cruz,

Teacher, Pastor Rex Abanilla and  Ms. Frash Ortiz.  Partime Staffs were Ptr. Delfin Domingo,

Pastor Anting  Coloso, Ptr. Raffy Lamputi and Ernest Carvajal.

The  staff all worked hard to implement the project – rice distributions,  cash assistance, providing materials to help build the victims homes --  bamboos,  nails, coco lumbers for the “sintas” and “sukog” of the homes. Education and training for livelihood assistance.

The project provide half sack of rice per family and P500 cash assistance . We purchased several thousand pieces of bamboos from Maasin, Janiuay, Badiangan, Pototan, Calinog, Lambunao, San Miguel, Alimodian and Leon with some 15 pieces of bambos per family to help rebuild their small  homes.

We bought 4 Chain Saws and mobilized 10 operators to cut fallen coconut trees, making them coco lumbers to provide families with coco lumbers to help them rebuild their destroyed homes.  It has a community organizing and cooperative development works.