Story by Joseph Charles Lim
In this day and age of increasing urbanization where people flock to cities in search of greener pastures, the idea of a simpler life seems almost forgotten.
But the small community of Barangay Layong Mabilog in Maragondon, Cavite is a proof that there are still some areas where time seems to slow down.
Barangay Layong Mabilog, established in 1986, is located in Maragondon,Cavite. It is three to for hours away from Manila. (Photos by Joseph Charles Lim)
It was a Saturday morning and Leny de Taza, a mother of three, was busy preparing ingredients for her small halo-halo business while her children were out doing chores.
Leny is all smiles as she tells her story. (Photo by Joseph Charles Lim)
Leny and her family have been living in Barangay Mabilog for more than a decade.
“I lived in Manila for a long time. I worked as a lady guard and supervisor in SM Makati, but I chose to live here and be with my children,” she said in Filipino.
Living routine
Leny shared that the living routines in the area are very different from the city.
Some sugar canes that people in the community planted. (Photo by Joseph Charles Lim)
Walking is how people get around in the barangay since there is no tricycle or other modes of public transportation available at all times. Since the area is comprised of arable land, people plant crops such as bananas, sugar canes, and legumes.
Residents of Barangay Layong Mabilog also make use of the river as free water source. They choose to do their laundry down by the river, unlike in the city where washing machines are commonly used for washing clothes.
A mother does her laundry while some children enjoy swimming in the river. (Photo by Joseph Charles Lim)
While there are elementary schools located within the barangay, the nearest high school is still far from the area. This pushed Leny to take the initiative in coordinating with families whose children are in high school. She collects weekly fees for affordable school service, she said.
But the residents are not left without assistance; non-governmental organizations such as the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) are of big help to them, according to Leny.
According to Joanna Dalusag, Associate Program Specialist of IIRR, the organization focuses on helping remote and rural communities like Barangay Layong Mabilog through their various livelihood programs; it provides farming inputs to help with their livelihood.
Leny's mother has been one of the recipients IIRR's livelihood project. IIRR had given her a wild boar for domestication and instructed her to give pigs to other houses after breeding in order to continue the project.
Farming conditions
Leny's parents also rent a small piece of land in the mountains and plant different crops--mostly bananas that are suitable for the dry season. Her mother earns around Php 5000 every week or two from selling harvested crops.
Newly-harvested bananas that Leny’s parents sell in the market. (Photo by Joseph Charles Lim)
Leny’s two other children also help their grandparents in farming to expose them to the farm work.
However, IIRR observed that the youth do not have much interest in farming since the parents themselves do not want their children to experience the same hardships they went through as farmers.
“We encourage the parents to talk to their children and get them involved into family farming,” Dalusag said.
Dalusag also mentioned that an irrigation system which the barangay does not have at the moment, would be of great help to the people of the community.
Fortunately, some officials from the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) had visited the barangay to scout the area for possible irrigation installation, according to her.
For Leny, farming skills would teach children how to be independent and responsible, which will be helpful for them especially when they decide to settle elsewhere in the future.
Value of working hard
Leny shared that she teaches her children the value of work and reward while they are still young; as soon as the sun rises, she assigns them tasks to do.
“I encourage my children to work at a young age because it would be very difficult to teach them the value of work if they are older. What I do is I don’t let them eat breakfast if the work is not finished,” she said.
She wants them, as their parent, to be responsible and independent especially given their living situation.
Better and simpler life
Leny prefers living in the countryside even though she had already experienced working in cities.
There are many planted crops in the area which are free for anyone to take. (Photo by Joseph Charles Lim)
“Many resources like vegetables can be consumed here for free unlike in Metro Manila where everything has a cost. Money drives the living there,” she said.
She added that she wants her children to have good futures, but would still want them to live in Cavite and not in Metro Manila.
According to the latest study of Philippine Institute for Development Studies, “extremely poor Filipinos account for about half of all the total poor in rural areas” during the period 2003-2009, “while the extremely poor constitutes about a third of the urban poor.”
In 2017, National Economic Development Authority launched AmBisyon Natin 2040, the country’s long-term development plan, as its way of addressing the issue of poverty in the country. One of its goals for the first six years (2017-2022) is to “lower the poverty incidence in rural areas from 30% to 20%.”
At present, there is an increasing call for decentralization of economic activities from Metro Manila, though there is no clear indication of it happening anytime soon.
On one hand, when asked about the possibility of development of the area, Leny responded that she is not entirely against the idea “if the people in the community would benefit from it.”
However, Leny said she “would rather have the simpler situation that they [community] have now,” if such development would lead to a complicated life for the community.
Regardless, Leny and the whole community of Barangay Layong Mabilog clearly show how they can manage rural living despite the fast development in the province of Cavite.
Although, support from the government is still needed and proper implementation of economic plans is crucial to further improve the situation of people living in rural areas.
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