Army to establish more wellness farms in Negros Occidental

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 3): Army to establish more wellness farms in Negros Occidental

The Negros First-Army Wellness Farm project of the 303rd Infantry Brigade based at its headquarters in Murcia, Negros Occidental will be replicated in other areas in the province.

The Wellness Farm initiative aims to “win the peace” in the province. Majority of its beneficiaries are rebel returnees.

Col. Jon Aying, commander of the 303rd IB, said the program is designed to ensure food security, generate basic income and sustainability, especially for former New People’s Army rebels and their families.

In Murcia, the Army Wellness Farm lies on a 2.5-hectare lot inside the Camp Major Nelson Gerona. It has been successful in producing organic products such as vegetables, livestock and poultry.

Organic farming is one of their non-traditional innovations in addressing the insurgency problem in Negros Occidental, Aying said.

“We want to capacitate former rebels by teaching them organic farming and other means of livelihood to ensure sustainable sources of income when they re-integrate to the community,” he added.

Most of the rebel returnees who are beneficiaries of the project surrendered to the 303rd IB from 2011 to 2012.

Army soldiers and members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit are also helping cultivate the Wellness Farm in Murcia.

Aying said he is planning to set up satellite Wellness Farms in the first, fifth and sixth districts of the province to serve as “learning and livelihood centers” with the support of the provincial government of Negros Occidental.

“The program recognizes economic capacity-building of the beneficiaries to become self-reliant and less vulnerable, with a projection towards their permanent settlement and production areas assured of protection from lawlessness and natural disasters,” the Army official said.

Negros Occidental remains one of the provinces where the communist insurgency is still active, particularly in the first, fifth, and sixth districts.

Aying said the armed struggle has become an intergenerational practice in some families, and a way of life in a culture of violence.

To respond to this social predicament, the 303rd IB adopted the Wellness Program based on an integrated framework consistent with the peace and development concept of the Provincial Peace, Integration and Development Unit (Pro-PIDU).

The Pro-PIDU, a sub-committee of the Provincial Peace and Order Council of Negros Occidental, is spearheading the campaign to address the root causes of insurgency in the province.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=649743