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*

mindanao escapades

whoever believes mindanao is a chaotic place is soooo dead wrong!life here is anything but normal.the places i have been to since i arrived here 2 weeks ago never failed to amaze me! :) the beautiful terrain, the delicious food at very low cost, and the people from different cultures all blended in a very special and endearing world.add to all that the challenges with work, and i can surely say that it is a whole new world.

when i arrived here, military men holding rifles greeted me at the airport.i thought, oh well.i should get used to these men.and get used i did!just last week a military man walked into our office asking for some published materials on rice production. buti na lang he deposited his ammo sa guard house. he was corteous all right. :) exactly a week after i arrived here, tita becks, jaime and i went to gensan for some shopping. buti na lang ulit we dint had to endure 3 hours of travelling on a public transpo!a vehicle from the office was going to marbel, south cotabato for an official trip so we hitched. :) i had the pleasure of enjoying the sights!we passed by pikit, north cotabato, labeld by the media as a hostile place.on that early saturday morning, the place looked serene.with one or two residents walking along the highway.we also passed by the vast pineapple plantations owned by multinational company dole. grabeh ang ganda!you could see hills carpeted with pineapple.i also noticed that some parcels of people's backyard gardens are planted with papaya trees.tita becks told me these small-time farmers sell the papayas to dole for its fruit cocktail product. :)

on the way home, we learned from a news report over the radio that a bomb exploded at the back of a bus in koronadal city.it kind of unnerved me for a moment but my officemates assured me its nothing.oh well. :)

foodtrips have become one of my favorite pastimes lately, and mindanao has given me more than my usual fare of isaw, odoks and tokneneng.here, you have varied choices of food at very affordable prices! [do i sound like a promo girl in some supermarket? :)] i have come to appreciate fruits more!here we have abundant supply of marang (a fruit na parang pinsan ng langka), mangosteen, sweet pineapple, lanzones, mangoes, papaya, durian and guapple. and take note, the prices range from 5-20 per kilo.yey. :) seafoods can also be bought at below 100 pesos.they have excellent tuna here. :)

the people here are so accomodating!i remember on my first day at work, i had no baon.back in luzon, i was used to cafeterias, i lived on take out food most of the time.so i really got the shock of my life when everyone at the office had their neat lunchboxes with them.an offismate of mine, i call him kuya nash (that's short for mohamed nasrullah, obviously a Moslem) volunteered to buy me food.and yes, he dint accept money for it.libre! they say when Moslems offer you something, you should accept it because if u dint, they get offended. :) aside from kuya nash, the office houses other interesting personalities.there's ate sallee (that's short for salembai), who wasnt present during her wedding.yes, moslem women can be married off even if they're not present at their own wedding. :) there's also kuya alex (his real name is datu ali) who is as sweet and accomodating as the others. :) one time, we were kidding kuya nash if he owned 2 certain barangays in north cotabato because its name was similar to his family name. wala ka!it was true. :) kuya nash's family actually owned two friggin barangays. hows that huh?

official trips.when i was still in philrice's central office, i was so used to having an admin assistant do the leg work.ate gaya processed travel orders, cash advances and even haggling with the dispatcher. i just signed forms, listed project codes for its charging.the works.here in midsayap, you do all the legwork.powtek tlga!it is so bureaucratic that you'd want to quit and pack your stuff.oh well, wala pa nga pala akong pambayad ng airfare.spent all my money buying stuff for my so-called relocation. :)

other than the problems at the office, life here is a bliss.i havent actually explored all of mindanao yet.but the workplan we did will take us to maguindanao, tawi-tawi, sulu and of course, basilan. :)