BUKID-MPC: Barangay development through abaca

Working together works, says motivational speaker Dr. Rob Gilbert. And indeed it does, as proven by the Barangay Unity Key to Integrated Development – Multipurpose Cooperative or BUKID-MPC of barangay Magsaysay in Balamban town.

Magsaysay is a quiet barangay located at Mt. Manunggal. It was so named because it is the area where President Ramon Magsaysay’s plane crashed in 1957. But aside from attracting mountaineers, trekkers and government officials every March 21, the anniversary of the crash, barangay Magsaysay has also created a stir because of its produce – abaca fiber.

Jose Bebelonio Pepito, chairman of BUKID-MPC shared that people in barangay Magsaysay used to grow root crops that are just enough for their respective family’s consumption. And because root crops need wide areas of cleared land, most of the residents would cut trees. “People did not care about the environment. All they cared about is to provide food on the table for their families,” he said.

Those residents who have bigger lots also grew abaca but because they had no contacts in the city and had no technical assistance, income from the abaca plants was not really that much.

Everything changed, however, in 2005, when the residents organized themselves and established BUKID-MPC, with the guidance of Pepito, who was then the barangay captain.

The cooperative was awarded a P500,000 grant from the Philippine Environmental Governance Project 2 (EcoGov2) of the United States Agency for International Cooperation and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The cooperative was awarded the grant basically because of its commitment to manage the Magsaysay area, which is considered by the DENR as “critical land.” The fund was used to purchase abaca corms and fertilizers.

The cooperative also received stripping machines, three from the Department of Science and Technology, two from EcoGov and one from Lexmark.

Abaca strippers or mangkigi, extract the fiber from the abaca plant’s leaves and stems using a stripping machine. Pepito, however, said that they only use the stripping machine when there are many plants to extract fiber from. One stripping machine, which needs 10 people to operate, can extract up to 120 kilos of abaca fiber a day. Improvised stripping tools, manned by only one person, can extract up to three kilos of fiber a day.

Twenty-eight year old Ramil Hernal has been extracting abaca fiber using an improvised stripping tool for 10 years now. He looks forward to the day when the cooperative’s abaca plantation would yield leaves and stems that are enough for them to use the stripping machines that were donated to them.

The price of abaca fiber is based on its color, the whiter the fiber is, the more expensive. BUKID-MPC sells abaca fiber at P110 per kilo and already, they have established contacts with exporters who use the fiber to make sinamay and other products.

Now, the cooperative has 162 strong members who benefit from the abaca plantation project. Other residents in the area who are not members of the cooperative but have patches of land planted with abaca also benefit from the organization since the cooperative buys raw materials from them.

The benefit of abaca planting does not stop with barangay Magsaysay residents. Pepito said the organization has entered into partnerships with the Aboitiz Foundation and the Dangerous Drugs Board for the expansion of their plantation to include nearby barangays Gaas, Bayong and Cansomoroy.

“We are currently talking with the Dangerous Drugs Board for a 60-hectare expansion to include neighboring barangays. The DDB is very active in this because it wants to help correct the livelihood of other barangays who are into planting marijuana,” he said.

Barangay Magsaysay’s location, which is 500 feet above sea level, is ideal for planting abaca. The plant, however, will not grow in the lowlands so the adjacent barangays are the ones tasked to process the upak or the low grade abaca fiber, which are made into ropes or lubid. “Abaca plants do not grow in barangay Cansomoroy, so to involve the residents there we tasked them to make lubid. There are now 28 households who are making lubid,” Pepito said.

Working together indeed works as experienced by the residents of barangay Magsaysay and the neighboring barangays who are involved in BUKID-MPC. And, as their name suggests, unity is truly the key to development.