Kumander Binjie (in yellow shirt extreme right) shows to the site evaluation team headed by OIC-Center Director Maria Lydia A. Echavez (standing extreme left) the extent of his farm which is teeming already with lots of standing crops like corn, banana, squash, coconuts, peanuts, garden-variety vegetables and fruit-bearing trees.
MUNAI, Lanao del Norte---“Ang pinaka-hinungdan sa kagubot dere sa Lanao tungod kana sa land dispute; among pakigbisog sa among ancestral domain. Kay kung walay yuta umahon, walay pagkaon ang mga tao.” Rebel-returnee Kumander Binjie Andamon Lucsadato earnestly shared his experience and recalled his former life during his involvement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as OIC-Center Director Maria Lydia A. Echavez and Kauswagan MAO Adelino. F. Rico intently listened.
MILF is a group based in Mindanao seeking an autonomous region of the Moro people from the central government. Most of the people in conflict-affected areas in Lanao del Norte would tell that the little or zero intervention from the government is the reason why progress and development is elusive and is far from happening in their area. Add to that the onslaught of natural calamities such as super typhoon Vinta last year which aggravated their dilemma. In the case of Kumander Binjie, he is one of the many program beneficiaries of the "From Arms to Farms" initiative of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI).
The recent visit of an evaluation team coming from the Agricultural Training Institute-Regional Training Center X (ATI-RTC X) headed by OIC-Center Director Echavez along with Partnerships and Accreditation Services Section (PASS) Chief Anita L. Molijon, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit (PMEU) Chief Philip D. Villegas, Career Development and Management Section (CDMS) Chief Teodosia D. Jaraba, Agriculturist Javier P. Andalan, Project Evaluation Officer Cheremie D. Generol, Media Production Specialist Vic Thor A. Palarca and Technical Support Staffs Angelica B. Villarta, Keeple Mark Darap and Francis Magadan went to Munai, Lanao del Norte to conduct a site validation. Extension advocate Amenah S. Taratingan also tagged along which served as the team’s farm location guide.
Although his farm is remotely located and getting there seems to be a challenge since one has still to pass a dirt road, there are lots of standing crops already like corn, banana, squash, coconuts, peanuts, garden-variety vegetables and fruit-bearing trees. Water supply is not a problem since they have a source of running water coursing through a nearby river.
The said farm site visit transpired last September 5, 2018.