Life in Barangay Pisa-Puti is simple. Locals’ source of income majority comes from farming.
Amud Yamid, 21 and Walid Tangkian, 20, both grew up in Pisa-Puti and were raised by their parents through farming.
Most of the farm area was located uphill, this is why Amud Yamid lives with his two cousins while his father is taking his time out in the farm for most of the time and would only come home when the harvest reach its fruition.
The same also with Walid, his father would also stay out in the farm together with his brothers while he has to look after his mother and wife and his two-year old child.
Since most of the residents were located at the low-land area, and the municipality is a coastal one, come rainy season, they would experience difficulty in crossing some areas within the barangay proper to their farm.
“Iyong nakita nyo na ilog diyan, kapag umuulan ng malakas, umaakyat iyong tubig ay hirap nang makatawid”, Amud explained. (If you have noticed the river right there, when it rain so hard and the water get high, then it cannot be crossed.)
For people who would dare to cross will have to face the hard way. As Amud shared “lumalangoy kami kapag mataas ang tubig, kapag may baha. Tapos kapag naman bumabaha na, iyong iba, mga matatanda na galing sa bukid, hindi na sila nakakatawid”.
(We swim our way to the other side when the water gets too high, when there’s flood. And when it’s flooded, the rest especially the elders who come home from farm will no longer cross.)
This scenarios has been frequent for the people who live in Pisa-Puti, that’s why when they were called to a barangay assembly, they never hesitated to join.
“Noong nagpatawag na ng meeting at nagsasabi na sila kung ano iyong gustong gawin namin, iyon naisipan namin na kailangan talaga ang hanging bridge na project sa amin dito naninirahan para kung mag-ulan, magbaha may madaanan”, Amud said. (When they called a meeting and then everyonediscussing what they wanted to propose, we felt the need to put up a hanging bridge as our sub-project so when it rains, comes flood, we can still cross.)
Walid Tangkian also shared “Sa dalas ng ulan dito, may namatay na nga diyan noong minsan nag-overflow ang tubig sa ilog. Kaya kailangan talaga namin nito”. (Rain occurs most often around here, and it has caused the death of someone during the time when the water in the river overflowed. And this is why we needed this thing up).
The clamor for a hanging bridge was then realized through Kalahi-CIDSS PAMANA. Built on April 18, 2015 was completed by September 8, 2015, the sub-project has been accessible not just to the people of Barangay Pisa-Puti, but to its neighboring barangay as well.
The construction of the hanging bridge sub-project has been a big help to community, while rain has been a frequent visitor and flood still get in the way, but people anytime of the day can pass through no matter the weather. And they will no longer get stranded whenever they would go uphill to farm or would bring farm products to home.
Although they’re both too hesitant to talk more on their experiences but they were genuinely happy with having been part with the realization of the sub-project. As Amud expressed, “ang masasabi ko lang salamat talaga kasi may ganitong project binibigay ang DSWD. Kailangan na kailangan namin dito, hindi naman siya basta basta ilalagay dito kung di siya makakatulong”.
(I am thankful to DSWD for it was a big help to us here for giving this kind of project. We badly needed this here. It wouldn’t be built here if it wasn’t helpful).
“Hindi na kame mahirapan pumunta sa bukid kapag bumabaha, mabuti na rin iyon kasi may dumating na proyekto na makakatulong sa mga tao. Para sa akin, nakatulong na rin sa barangay”, Walid added. (We wouldn’t be struggling to go to farm despite the flood, it is really good to have a project that is able to help people. For me, it’s more of helping our barangay).
PAMANA is the Phiippines Government’s program and framework for peace and development. It follows a CDD approach where it allows to put power back in the hands of the people by giving them the opportunity to make informed decisions on locally identified options for develop and manage resources to implement sub-projects that address needs identified by communities themselves.#