53 ‘Barangay Bagsakan’ put up in Region 9

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur: The Department of Agriculture (DA) initially established 53 “Barangay Bagsakan” (BB) in various progressive villages of the Zamboanga Peninsula.

Ferdinand Gamorot, Region 9 Agribusiness and Division chief, said that under the BB,

harvests to a distribution center or depot located in an ideally situated barangay (village) for the community consumers to buy fresh, safe and cheaper products as these no longer pass through middlemen.

“At BBs, we see to it that the

- ermen themselves and no longer the middlemen who usually jack

Gamorot added.

He said of the 53 BBs in ChristianMuslim- Subano populated region, 27 are situated in Zamboanga del Norte, 13 in Zamboanga del Sur, 11 in Zamboanga Sibugay, nine in Zamboanga City and three in Isabela City ( Basilan). Gamorotexplained that for a BB to be operational, the DA provides some P30,000 to augment a farmer’s operating capital even as the agency also furnishes him necessary facilities and equipment, such as freezer, chillers, plastic crates, weighing scales, and calculators, among others.

In Tabina, Zamboanga del Sur, Mayor Gregorio Dayondon encouraged the local Association of Concerned Women to manage for free the local BB established in Barangay Poblacion, which is provided with sea and farm products including livestock from the town’s 15 villages. In Josefina town, Councilor Teresito Villas, who heads the local committee on agriculture, recently put up a BB in the progressive village of Moradje, making the farm produce depot closer to residents of the mountainous municipality

Josefina Vice Mayor Catalino Adapon said villagers no longer have to ride on habal-habal (improvised motorcycle for cargo) and pay P50 to P80 to reach the municipal public market every Sunday. Gamoro said the DA is scheduled to establish additional BBs in other areas of Region 9, including Barangay Timuay Danda in Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay and Barangay Carbon, Isabela this year.