Huwarang Pantawid Pamilya: Badian family tills soil to grow organic vegetables

Their advocacy for organic farming made the Elardo family of Barangay Taytay in Badian town win this year’s Huwarang Pantawid Pamilya provincial competition. / DSWD-7 photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — While others despise farming, this family from Badian town makes sure that they continue to till their small farm in Barangay Taytay to grow the vegetables that they would sell and use for their daily consumption.

Their love for farming started with their father Francisco Elardo, 46, who once thought of finding his fate beneath the skyscrapers of the metropolis. But Francisco later on decided to return to the countryside to till the soil.

“Kung kita tanan mahimong engineer o mosakay og barko, kinsa may mananom sa pagkaon nga atong andamon para sa atong pamilya? Di ra ba na mahilis ang puthaw,” Francisco jokingly said.

(If we all become engineers or become boat crews, who will be left to grow the food that we will serve to our families? Steels are inedible.)

After he graduated from high school, Francisco enrolled in a university in Cebu City located around 104 kilometers away from his home in southwestern Cebu. He took up a degree in Political Science.

The Elardo family share the responsibility of tilling their farm. /DSWD-7 Photo

But he got bored reading books on policy-making and eventually found himself dropping out of school and working in a factory for a couple of years. But working in the manufacturing industry was not his fate either.

“Wala man ko swerteha sa akong pag eskwela, nitrabaho ko og pila ka tuig isip factory worker pero na realize nako nga wala man gyud koy nakita sa akong pagpanarbaho. Nipauli ko sa amoa ug didto nako nakita nga mag farming ko,” Francisco said.

(Schooling was not for me so I worked in a factory but I eventually realized that the job was not giving me the fulfillment that I was looking for. That was when I decided to go back home (to Badian town) and started farming.)

And that was when Francisco saw his purpose.

Despite the meager income that he would earn, Francisco said that it was in farming where he found himself to be of help not only in providing healthy meals for his family but also for other members of their community.

“Farming is the backbone of the nation. Sa nagkataas nga populasyon, nagsaka pud ang demand sa pagkaon. Kung kalimtan nato ang farming, unsaon man nato pagpakaon sa mga tawo nga sa pagkaon raba na maggikan ang kusog?” Francisco said.

(Farming if the backbone of the nation. With our growing population, the demand for food is also increasing. If we forget farming, how would we feed our people especially since it is from food that we draw our energy from.)

Now, Francisco, his wife, Marilou, and children Reese, 19, and Christian, 15, work together to grow their produce in a 1,000-square meter demo farm that they own in their home in Barangay Taytay in Badian. The farm, which grows local vegetables, is the family’s main livelihood.

Fracisco Elardo uses recycled items in their organic demo farm in Barangay Taytay, Badian. /DSWD-7 Photo

From the sale of their produce and financial aid that they are getting from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), Elardo sends Reese to the Cebu Technological University (CTU) Moalboal Campus where she is taking up a degree in Secondary Education and Christian to Badian National High School where he is currently a Grade 10 student.

The Elardos are among the 160,000 families that benefit from the 4Ps program in Cebu province.

This year, the family was hailed as the provincial winner in the agency’s search for the model family beneficiary or Huwarang Pantawid Pamilya 2019.

The family was recognized during the awarding rites held in Cebu City on June 18.

The Elardos will be competing with other winners from the provinces of Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor in the regional Huwarang Pantawid Pamilya search. The desk validation for the regional search is scheduled on July 5.

Brigieda Goron, the provincial link for the DSWD 4Ps in Cebu, said the family’s advocacy for organic farming was one of the factors that made them win provincial model family title.

Aside from doing organic farming, Francisco also organizes talks in their locality to share his knowledge on organic farming.

“Akong pangandoy gyud nga ma-echo ang organic farming sa akong mga isig-katawo kay mas luwas ni kaysa sa kanang gamitan og synthetic (fertilizer). Importante kaayo ni labi na nga ang mga bata karon humok kaayo masakit,” Francisco said.

(It has always been my dream to impart my knowledge on organic farming to others because this is safer in comparison with vegetables grown with the use of synthetic feritilizer. This is very important especially since children are prone to sickness nowadays.)