Representatives from Solid Earth Development Corporation (SEDC) enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with beneficiaries in Purok 5 Gorion, Barangay Tonggo in San Fernando town.
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Solid Earth Development Corporation (SEDC) has provided low-income households in the hinterlands of San Fernando, Cebu a livelihood opportunity of raising hogs at their own backyards.
With the help of Barangay Tonggo officials, SEDC picked, after a careful selection process, the residents at Purok 5 Gorion that had the most number of jobless housewives.
SEDC officials accompanied by Municipal Agriculture Officer Nelson Soronio and Barangay Captain Virgilo Siarot met last year and later on briefed Tonggo residents on the project implementation.
SEDC Community Relations Officer Gines Boltron explained that the project involved the distribution of eight hogs per group of housewives. Each group will also be getting feeds, medicines and vitamins. They were also brief on how to overcome the challenges of hog raising and its benefits.
SEDC grouped Gorion residents into eight clusters consisting of eight to 10 members each. The clusters were asked to organize themselves, provide a pigsty that will accommodate eight hogs, and find a hogs supplier.
However, only four of the eight clusters managed to accomplish the task. Purok 5, Gorion organization President Joseph Barnigo later entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with SEDC officials on Jan. 19, 2018 to mark the start of the program .
The MOA signing was witnessed by Purok adviser Cresencio Barnigo and Jasmin Saramosing, barangay community organizer for SEDC.
A day after MOA signing, SEDC started to distributed the hogs to two of the four qualified clusters for the start of implementation of phase 1 of the livelihood project. The two other clusters received their share two days after.
“Building better communities has been our guiding principle in supporting our stakeholders,” said Mitzie Almira Carin, SEDC division manager for human resources and administration that handles the SDMP.
“Our approach has been to promote sustained improvement in the living standards of our host and neighboring communities by creating responsible, self-reliant and resource-based communities,” she added.
Barangay Tonggo has 475 households and a population of 2,298. Gorion has 83 households while 92 percent of its residents earn below P10,000 a month.