The Ministry Years: Chapter 38: We Organized Libacao Hinterland Villages & Lobbied for Roads, a Bridge, Sanitary Drinking Water & Solar Electricity, then Came Aklan Electric Cooperative

Chapter 38

We Organized Libacao Hinterland Villages & Lobbied for Roads, a Bridge,

Sanitary Drinking Water & Solar Electricity, then came Aklan Electric Cooperative

A Baptist Pastor and church leaders helped hinterland villages to get organized and collectively demanded from the government roads, a bridge, drinking water system and later, electricity. They got their demand.

Domingo Bernal was a Baptist church pastor. He pastored several churches in Aklan and served as Provincial Minister in Aklan in 1970’s. He saw the difficult life of the people of the hinterland villages. Government services to not reached the people because of the distance and the accessability.

Government workers found it hard to walk mountain villages, hard terrains, passing small walking bridges and riding always in bamboo raft (balsa) when they have loads –palay, corn, pigs to market and vise versa. Life in the mountains were very hard.

In 1998, the bridge that connects Barangay Rosal to Libacao town was finished. It was built by the national, provincial and municipal government thru the Barangay Council, Rosal-Ortega Multi-Purpose Cooperative and the community people. They served as conduit. Thru many resolutions from the barangays, inspired and guided by the cooperative, the government responded and built the roads and the concrete bridge. The years of crossing the river from the poblacion to Brgy. Rosal through bamboo rafts were now over.

The building of the bridge, roads and building new roads were done by the government through people’s strong lobbying, assisted by Rosal Ortega Multi-Purpose Cooperative and themany barangay associations in the area.

The mind and spirit behind the people’s accomplishments was Pastor Domingo Bernal, Treasurer of the Cooperative. He worked with Mr. Giovanni Iguiz, Cooperative President. They worked together in educating, organizing, mobilizing the people for change and developments in Rosal and other hinterland villages. They helped train and organized the people to lobby and demand from the government much needed services- roads, bridge, new roads – to bring people’s products to the market.

ROMPC thru its educational program has instilled in the minds of the people that development of the hinterland villages would not be possible withour roads and bridges that will enable them to bring their products to the market.The farm to market roads were necessity for hinterland developments.

Contribution by the Project

The government thru lobbying of the people and ROMPC were able to build the bridge and the roads. Now, for the first time, since the creation, the several hinterland barangays has a bridge and an all out weather road with available transportation, motorcycle.

Now, new roads was being built from Barangay Manika to reach all other hinterland sitios, including two barangays at the boundary of Capiz and Iloilo. These new developments will affect for the better the lives of the people.

Through the Cooperative and Farmers Associations, organized in some 10 villages and big sitios, they will also be able built a sanitary drinking water system. They can build solar dryers for palay/rice and other grains with assistance from the government, the people providing labor. With lobbying by the people and the village associations, the community may be able to get a mini-hydro electric plant. And now, Aklan Electric Cooperative have started providing them with the electrice services.

Added Value by Diakonia

The cooperative organized with earlier financial assistance from Bromma Baptist Church , Sweden in1985, undertook training on ecology farming, encouraging multi-crop system and animal raising for people’s sustained sources for food. The held invironmental protection studies and started collective efforts to prevent soil erosion and lanslides, since their barangay is at the foot of the high mountain.

Then, with Diakonia’s assistance starting 1996, the people strengthened and expanded their lobbying works –to request and demand services from the government’s local, provincial and national offices. They people studied their rights guaranted in the Constitution to protect themselves from repressive authorities, known to have very low respect for uneducated people in the mountains.

During those times, people in the hinterland villages use mostly primitive methods of farming. They produce crops barely enough for their subsistence. They do not practice new farming methods. The soil often erodes. When typhoon comes, of their were landslides. But it’s different now. Rosal Ortega Farmer Cooperatives and Can-awan Farmers Association, were the two barangays, where the two first Electric Abaca Fiber Stripping machines were opearated, improving the quality of abaca fiber in the market.

Project Title: -Consolidation and Expansion Project for Development Education and

Economic Activities (1999-2001)

Implementing Partner: Rosal-Ortegar Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative

Project Location: Brgy. Rosal, Libacao, Aklan

Story Teller/Writer: Domingo Bernal & Rudy Bernal, January 28, 2006

Domain 4: Change in Democratic Governance at all level

PARTNERSHIP IN DIVERSITY

Best Practices and Lessons Learned

Final Evaluation of Diakonia Philippine Programme

PARTNERSHIP IN DIVERSITY was published December 2007

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Part of the series The Ministry Years (chapter 40 of 48)

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