25/09/2026
| ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ด๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐: ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ช๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ป, ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป
Despite the challenges posed by age and societal expectations, a group of elderly women in Kawayan, Biliran, have emerged as strong advocates for sustainable farming.
A key figure in this movement is Rebecca Tabuldan, a 74-year-old farmer whose dedication to farming has inspired the members of their association to succeed.
โ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ, ๐ถ๐จ ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ข๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐จ ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ช๐ด๐ข๐จ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ป๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช ๐ฅ๐ช๐ณ๐ช, ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ต๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ช ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ฏ-๐ฐ๐ฏ,โ Rebecca says with a warm smile, as her weathered hands pick eggplants from their 1,250-square-meter communal farm.
[I do really enjoy farming; hence I want everyone to plant vegetables as well. Even though we are already senior citizens, we need to show to others that we are still capable of doing things that can help inspire the younger generation.]
The Samahan ng mga Manggagawa para sa Agrikulturang Pangkabuhayan (SMAP), a group of 14 women and 6 male farmers, has long depended on corn and vegetables as their staple crops. However, in recent years, they noticed a decline in participation and productivity among local farmers. Climate change and fluctuating market prices caused many farmers to struggle financially.
โ๐๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฃ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐จ-๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ฅ-๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ฅ-๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ-๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข,โ shared Gilbert Tabudlan, SMAP president. [Some of our farmers have lost hope and even lost interest in farming.]
But Rebecca and the other elderly members of SMAP were determined to change that.
In 2023, after completing the training on corn and vegetable production provided by the DA RFO8 Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program, SMAP decided to focus on corn and vegetable farming. After receiving the livelihood package on diversified corn and vegetable production, the farmers started planting diverse crops, including corn, squash, string beans, eggplant, okra and upo.
Their goal was simple: to provide fresh and quality produce to the community while also promoting backyard farming and livelihood sustainability.
โ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ช ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ช. ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข-๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ฃ๐ช๐ด๐ข๐จ ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ,โ said Estela Catigbi, a 66-year-old farmer. [We are happy that we are farming. We are also grateful to SAAD because the association is starting to earn an income.]
Their efforts paid off. Not only did their vegetable crops flourish, but they were able to sell their produce in the local market allowing them to generate a total gross income of Php 124,805.00.
Through a series of informal meetings, the elderly members of SMAP began inspiring and influencing other residents in the barangay to grow vegetables even in their own backyards.
The inspiring testimonies from the active members are gradually transforming the mindset of their neighbors about agriculture. Local markets have increased their demand for their vegetable harvest, and several young farmers have also started planting vegetables. The local government unit even started supporting these efforts, providing additional resources, market support, and training.
For many of the elderly women who once thought their days of farming were already over, vegetable farming has been a lifeline. Daria Jaron, 64, a farmer-member of SMAP, shared how she enjoyed growing vegetables.
โ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ ๐ต๐ช๐จ๐ถ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ช. ๐๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ข๐บ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ข ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ช ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ-๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ ๐ฐ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ช ๐ด๐ข ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ, ๐ฎ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ถ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข-๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ช. ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข-๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ,โ Daria said. [I do not mind my age, because I am able to see the cash potential in vegetable farming. At the same time, it is our stress reliever and source on income which makes us feel proud of ourselves.]
Rebecca, Estela, Daria and their fellow women farmers in Kawayan have big dreams for the future. They envision a province where vegetable farming is sustainable. They want to see more young people return to the land, equipped with both modern tools and age-old wisdom, ensuring that Biliranโs agriculture remains strong for generations to come.
"๐๐ข๐จ๐ด๐ถ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ช ๐ด๐ข ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐บ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐บ. ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ, ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ, ๐ถ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ข๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ-๐ถ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข ๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐จ ๐ด๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข,โ Rebecca expressed. [We have already started backyard farming in our barangay. We are doing this for our children, our grandchildren, and for every individual who has the passion and the heart to go into farming.]
Indeed, these elderly women farmers are doing more than just vegetable farmingโthey are cultivating hope, resilience, and a sustainable future.
