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Peace converts here get Bohol “seeds of hope”

Written by anyajulia on 31 March 2009

IT would be another “armed struggle” with former rebels now peace converts as Bohol Vice Governor Julius Caesar Herrera gave them seeds of hope to start anew.

The peace converts, or more popularly known in Bohol as “kauban sa reporma” (KR) belong to the latest batch of rebel returnees decided stopping their pursuit of a lost war.

The new “armed struggle” is essentially one that uses the KRs arms in tilling the soil and produce food from the sweat of their brow.

Still stigmatized as former extremists, the 26 returnees here found themselves hard up in finding livelihood opportunities much less, the capital to start a decent life anew.

Through the Office Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, the government, with the help of local officials here succeeded in granting P20T livelihood assistance.

Seeing that majority of these peace converts decide to be anonymous farmers, the vice governor, who heads the Sangguniang Panlalawigan’s Agriculture committee found the perfect opportunity to recruit new allies.

The seeds, a complete Pinoy pinakbet pack consists of ampalaya, eggplant, squash, okra, string beans and tomatoes were each given to peace converts as starter seed set to germinate at home, Herrera said.

This may be a real small thing, but great beginnings start from here, Herrera said in the vernacular as he elaborated on the parallel effort growing the seeds of hope in the government’s honest peace initiatives.

In his engagements across the province, Herrera has been convincing people to go back to agriculture as a response to the global crisis that threatens to shake rock-steady economies across the globe.

He shared his dreams of keeping backyard gardens so that families can cut on spending costs.

Consequently, Herrera has been on the recruiting binge to convince people of the vision for food sufficient Bohol.

In support of his personal crusade, the province of Bohol has recently allotted P1M more to feed the Herrera dream of food security, shared Provincial Administrator Tomas Abapo during the awarding ceremonies last week. (rachiu/PIA)

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