ARC Tajam Masbate: A hope reborn

A couple of years from now, barangays Tagbon and Jamorawon and neighboring village in Milagros town will turn into a new economic growth zone in the province of Masbate, with its wide potential in agricultural production ranging from rice, corn and vegetables to fishpond and swine raising, plus the many interventions the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and line agencies have been pouring in.

Tagbon and Jamorawon, once a sleepy agricultural area west of Milagros, came to its lively self in year 2000 when the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) declared it as an Agrarian Reform Community (ARC) and now known as ARC Tajam.

One of the most tangible gains ARC Tajam has benefited from the program is the transformation of its agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) from being passive and apolitical individuals to responsible, self reliant and empowered citizens. This prepared them in facing the challenges that crop up with the entry of various interventions in their place.

In 2002, ARC Tajam was chosen as a recipient of the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project (ARISP), a program funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The ARC is now benefiting from the ARISP’s different project components namely: irrigation, post harvest facility (PHF), cooperative development, rural water supply and farm-to-market roads (FMR).

The infrastructure projects in ARC Tajam with ongoing implementation under the ARISP are as follows: The P6-million Jamorwon communal irrigation projects (CIP) to benefit 166 potential irrigators; the Jamorawon solar dryer and a 750-cavan capacity warehouse under the PHF; the Tajam rural water supply level 1; and the rehabilitation and improvement of the 3.11-km. Tagbon FMR worth P4.1 million and the 2.8 km. Jamorawon FMR which costs P2.7 million.

"We feel so blessed that these assistance are coming our way. We have been dreaming for these for so long that we almost gave up hope, until the DAR came and touched our lives with its sincere effort to alleviate us from poverty," says an ARB.

The dying Jamorawon Multi-Purpose Cooperative Inc. (JMPCI) was brought back to life and now sets to venture into various livelihood and enterprise development activities like palay trading and fishpond operation, among others.

The JMPCI was registered at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 21, 1989, with the initial members of 41 and a start up capital of P45,000. As of June 2004, it had 160 members way above the target of 96 members. Its capital has gone up to P82,941. – RLoria