Sowing seeds, reaping resiliency

“Isang taon naming hinintay ang isang libo” (We waited for an entire year for Php 1,000.00 or $ 20.00), Bedorie Mamailao recalls.

Bedorie, 60, explained that ginger takes an entire year to harvest. The first time they did, Bedorie and her son harvested around six sacks: one sack was set aside for another cycle of cropping, the rest they sold to the market for only Php 1,000.00.

She tends a small patch of land in Marawi City where she harvests a variety of vegetables. Some of these are tagotong (eggplant), banggala (sweet potatoes), ube (purple yam), and pechay (bok choy). 

It’s a difficult life but it’s the only one Bedorie knows. 

Under the Strengthening Urban Preparedness through Pre-emptive Action in BARMM (SUPPA-BARMM) Project, members of the vulnerable sector including senior citizens like Bedorie qualify for cash assistance because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cash assistance aims to equip the vulnerable sector with financial security, which most of them struggle with during any disaster. 

Bedorie knew how she would spend her cash assistance immediately upon learning her eligibility. She acquired more crops to diversify her farm, which she would reap in the next months. Bedorie looks forward to saving some money when the harvest season comes. Having lived from day to day all her life, saving has only been possible now that she has had some financial assistance. 

In a 2020 PSA report, the daily wage of BARMM farmers rank the lowest in both palay and corn production among all the regions in the Philippines. Palay farmers earned P270.88 a day, while corn farm workers earned P244.45. For Bedorie, it is even smaller. While she sells a sack of her goods for P300, this is only during harvest season and much of this goes to the maintenance of the farm with little left for the daily expenses of her small family of three.

As a senior citizen with health complications, Bedorie has grown accustomed to being neglected by some government programs. She doesn’t have a senior citizen identification card, and therefore cannot avail of the senior citizen discount, because she was not informed of its requirements. Bedorie channels all her time and energy to her farm and has little time left for herself

Despite this, she remains optimistic about the future. With aid from nonprofit organizations such as the implementing partners of the SUPPA-BARMM Project, she hopes to provide for her family as long as her body allows her. 

SUPPA-BARMM is a joint project of IDEALS, Inc., PDRRN, Humanity & Inclusion, and OXFAM funded by European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid. The project aims to improve disaster preparedness and decrease the vulnerability of highly at-risk communities in the cities of Cotabato and Marawi in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. At present, 200 beneficiaries in Cotabato City and 227 beneficiaries in Marawi City have received COVID-19 cash assistance.