onli in da pilipins v.2

every time we go to a new site for our impact assessment survey, we always make sure to brief the agriculture technicians and provincial coordinators who will help out. since we are limited by time and the location of sites, (we target 2 sites per day, and one site has an average of 30 farmers to be interviewed; the sites are situated in far-flung barrios in maguindanao and shariff kabunsuan) we ask literate farmers to answer the questionnaires with one staff guiding them to ensure reliability of data and stuff. however careful we were, we still encountered some funny responses from the farmers that really brought us big laughs. examples like, responses to household size are BIG and MEDIUM. how medium is MEDIUM and how big is BIG, huh? :) another response we encountered was an answer to expenditure details from the extra income he gained after adopting philrice technologies. man, he answered: add wife!haha. :) it seemed real funny for us but it actually was true. some farmers did afford to pay for dowry because they had extra income after philrice trained them. the japanese funders would be thrilled. :) yet another hall of famer is a hip hop farmer: he said THOUSANG, instead of thousand. and speaking of thousand, yeah, they like to write it instead of just adding 000s after the comma. whoa. :) another farmer seemed reincarnated. he said he was 30 years old but that he was already farming for 94 years! i have two crappy conclusions here: 1: that he is convinced he was a farmer during his past life and that 2: give or take 10 years of farming experience NOW, he clocked in 84 years of farm work during his past life! aba, have you heard of immortal farmers? nyehehe.

so, here it goes. i present to you Exhibit A. pictures of really funny answers from several farmers.onli in da pilipins, man.

onli in da pilipins. :)

guindulungan, maguindanao and talayan pics

these are the kids from guindulungan, maguindanao.their place is so remote that i bet they've never gone as far as their town.the other guy nman with the red cap is ismael, a super shy binata from the same town. he wudnt talk to me kasi he knew little tagalog.ay, gwapo yang batang yan!haha. malupet dumiskarte. he told me, "sige papayag akong magpa-interview basta bigay mo muna cp number mo." nyahaha.lupet!

the other pic nman is kuya ipe, our driver.he was checking out kumander marakay's m14. kumander and the other members of his family had gone off to a nearby mosque to pray so we were left at their house.it is a two-storey house but the upper part is being used as storage room lang kasi it was badly damaged during a recent encounter with the military.he is a commander for the milf. :)

dapiawan, datu saudi

typical backyards of farmers' houses has ponds like this.one of the best things in rural life. :)

mindanao escapades pix!

tawi-tawi! captured by jaime. :)









sa isang tricycle sa midsayap. :)

camp abubakar pix!

the rebels & armies play hide and seek here.
we had to pass by this stream.thank god for 4x4s
off we went into camp abubakar's jungles!
extension workers at the field. :)

still on the road. :)
off-road baby!
typical village life at camp abubakar.the water flows freely from a nearby mountain. :)

when i was doing the schedule for our impact assessment survey in ARMM, i made sure that id go to camp abubakar.jaime had earlier gone to the place, famed for its reputation as the MILF's training camp.i dint had any reservations or worries.i just wanted to go. i was curious.i wanted to meet some rebels, see if they did carry firearms around their neighorhood.so when we finally arrived at the place, i got more than i bargained for!
slow-mo to our trip, we rode this 4x4 pajero because the place has a rough terrain. we were going off-road, baby. :) along the main road, you could see rolling hills planted with tall coconut trees.the road was not paved and we had to endure some bumps. when we exited from the highway, that was when the real action began.it had rained the day before, so the road was muddy AND a bit steep.good thing i was used to baguio's off-road inclines so it dint come as a shock for me.fast-forward and we arrive at the place.already, a group of farmers had arrived at their training venue.while we were conducting the interviews, i saw this guy arrive with his big ammo.man, it wasnt just an ammo.M-16.it was big!and loaded.he even has spare magazines neatly stuck on his belt.sheesh.i just shrugged it off and continued with the interviews.the farmers were accomodating, although they had some difficulties talking to me because they dint know much tagalog words.we went there on a friday, the day when moslems go to their mosques for service.so we had to finish before 12 noon.while on our way back to the office, the driver told me one of the armed men asked him about me.tsk!he was asking if he could get my number, blah blah.
buti na lang hindi alam ng driver yung number ko.bless him. :)


add-ons:
mom has never called me since i got here.it has always been me who calls her evrytime id feel homesick.but when she learned i was in camp abubakar, napatawag ang lola mo! haha.really freaked out. :) i decided i wudnt tell her id go to basilan. *wink wink*