By Anthony A. Araos
As one of the development-seeking provinces in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ifugao has taken a huge step to put its name on the map by electing then Alfonso Lista Mayor Glenn Prudenciano as vice governor during the 2019 elections. He outpolled two outgoing board members.
I always admired leaders who fought for good governance. One of them is Vice Governor Prudenciano. He is a role model in promoting good governance practices among local government units (LGUs) in the Philippines. During his watch at Alfonso Lista it was conferred the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG), a prestige-laden plum. Simply put,
To raise the bar of good governance evaluation, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) added the good financial housekeeping component as one of the criteria in the annual SGLG search. Under Prudenciano’s watch, Alfonso Lista made the grade. The town this time around missed the mark. But that’s another story.
The story of the economic deprivation of the farmer has many faces. Each face reveals the untold suffering he had to contend with in his life
One way of alleviating the farmer’s condition is the provision of an adequate irrigation system. This was done by the vice governor in four villages at Alfonso Lista. When he became one of the highest elected official in the province, he did the same in Hapid, Lamut which will ensure food security in that distant village. To farmers, water is indeed life.
Apart from irrigation systems, farmers in this province are in dire need of financial assistance. To achieve a 100-cavan yield per hectare from a rice land here, a Php35,000 capital is required. For most farmers here, that is a pie in the sky. The government has to step in by giving financial assistance to them to that extent, or, at the very least, a big part of that amount. That’s not too much to ask from the officialdom. Come to think of it, that amount would not be an expenditure, it would be an investment for the people. Without such, the public officials would not be able to make a difference in farmers’ lives.
While officials here had been working for decades to alleviate the condition of farmers, their poverty continues to wreak havoc in their individual lives. This is reflective of a reality all over this country. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), agriculture is among the sectors which consistently registered the highest poverty incidence since 2006.
It is my hope that Vice Governor Prudenciano, whose public service credentials are impeccable, shall continue to endeavor to reach out and help uplift the lives of those from the farthest, smallest and poorest farming villages.
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