Aboitiz unit helps revitalize livelihood in northern Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Some small backyard egg producers in typhoon-ravaged towns in northern Cebu have improved production with the egg machines they received from a private firm.

Pilmico Foods Corp, a unit of Aboitiz Equity Ventures, gave egg machine starter kits with ready-to-lay hens to farmer-entrepreneurs in towns of Medellin, Bogo and Daanbantayan.

Fifteen Yolanda survivors have revived their livelihood using the egg machines. This is seen to hopefully encourage other local residents to produce eggs in their backyard.

Each machine has a complete kit of pens with 48 six-month old ready-to-lay hens and consists of rearing cages with built-in feeding trough and waterer. Cages, which cost about P40,000 each, can last up to 10 years.

Clarissa Toralba, 34, who comes from Bogo City has been using the machines for six months now.

“We have tried hard to restore our livelihood despite the challenges brought by the calamity,” Toralba, mother of four, told The FREEMAN last Friday in Medellin town where other local farmers also shared their stories of survival.

Toralba has currently 96 hens and she produces about 80 pieces of eggs daily at an 80 percent production rate. The woman sells her eggs at P1.50-P1.80 per piece to the local market, giving her revenues of P3,000 a month.

Borromeo Pantaleon, 42-year-old hog raiser from Medellin's Daan Lungsod, also shared a number of community members helped one another to get back their livelihood. He was one of the few who were recognized for their notable acts of heroism during the disaster.

John Paul Pangilinan, Pilmico marketing manager, said small backyard farmers have been able to recover business losses with the income they get from producing eggs.

The Aboitiz subsidiary has donated 130 egg machines throughout Visayas, with an investment of P10 million. In northern Cebu, 30 machines which are productive for 16 months were distributed to beneficiaries and each received two.

Pangilinan told a press conference in Medellin the firm has hoped to drive up sales of poultry feeds with its promotion of egg machines.

It started to roll out egg machines in August last year in calamity-hit areas in Visayas.

“In a way, this will have a financial implication to our poultry feeds sales,” the manager said.

The company expects a growth of its feeds sales this year. (FREEMAN)