De Oro announces continued stay on conventional farming
People are engorging on a binge that worn out 
the energy of the agriculture industry. We are traversing on a trend which, in part, has made those who stay in the turf of conventional farming cry in exasperation on how their farming career stood in the brink of disintegration. We are not going to depart further but we are talking here about how in the world organic farming may cripple a portion of farming industry. Undeniably, the cause of going green is so laudable that it should let prominent names be echoed in all corners of the earth. But there is just this part of the whole picture which experiences an emotional outburst – those who are in conventional farming. They are affected because the call of pulling off from conventional farming endangers not only their survival and those of their children but also of the part of the population which cannot afford on the luxury of organic foods.
Going organic has become a catchcry now that the country has turned hedonistic. Many people are shifting to organic foods for healthy reasons. For those who are less in life, however, buying organic stuff in the market is a luxury. Understandably, the hands of those who are into organic farming are getting rough too. Conventional farmers, on the other hand, have in all certainty worked before organic farmers are born on the innards of the land. Today, those who are into the organic farming are having a prospect of raising an unfavorable hoopla against those in conventional farming. This has become a reason why the morale of those who are into this method of farming such as De Oro farmers declined markedly.
Had not been because the officers of De Oro Farmers Association, Inc. have maintained an optimistic attitude to stand for the rest of the poor populace, it would have surrendered easily as it once stood on the brink of disintegration. After being in existence for nearly 2 decades, De Oro has given the people of the island municipality of Socorro, Surigao del Norte a breathtaking perspective of community shared agriculture, that is, communal farming. Its voice may, in the fold of years, remain unheard nevertheless the thought of having said something is resounding enough for it to yell in jubilation that it has in fact aired what its members feel in respect to the issue. It chooses not to become a victim of someone else’s ideological enthusiasm and wishes to dig out a hole for everybody to see how in the world can conventional farming save lives rather than exterminate the human population.
De Oro Conventional Farmers have sketched out its own vision to maintain a real stand in staying with conventional farming rather than doing some striking shifts away from it. It may be considered a little held back in the analysis of those who are on organic cause but it looks for real rather than a mere chimerical opportunity to help the less fortunate part of the population who cannot afford an organic lifestyle. This may be interpreted by many as an overly act of reacting at things but the thought of a total shift hits De Oro with greater force. It may receive only a sparse support from the rest but it rather chooses to make a stand rather than live in the deep stupor of doing nothing and voicing not a single word.
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De Oro Farmers Association, Inc. (DOFAI) has been in existence for almost 2 decades now. The years immediately following its incorporation have been greeted with bitterness. Those times, however, are but viewed as mere trying times for the member-beneficiaries. Instead of becoming despondent, they have struggled to gain ground and inch by inch, they have jointly endeavored to become better in the turf of farming.
At present, the association has tilled vast track of land by mere manual labor. Some of the portions of lands they have jointly tilled are communal and have been unselfishly shared by the member beneficiaries. Further, the association has been divided into chapters of land tillers so that the yield will be evenly distributed and will be enjoyed by the beneficiaries.
The association has now also started to venture into fishing and while it lacked resources at hand, it continued to persuade its members to strive hard. Soon enough we will reap the far sweeter fruits of our own toil and that is, we will be able to help our brothers send their children to school and build homes for the homeless.
While it is a fact that the members are merely part of the impoverished class of constituents in the island municipality of Socorro, Surigao del Norte, Philippines, the association has started its laudable program of encouraging the parents to afford their children the privilege of obtaining a college degree. Since there are no sufficient funds at the command of the association, it has built a communal house in the city where the children of its beneficiaries can stay throughout their years of study free of charge. The said house is now home of at least 20 privileged students after a number of them graduated last year.
De Oro officials, albeit 90% of their number failed to get the privilege of getting even high school education, have now tried to shift from their old way of thinking. They are optimistic that by sending their beneficiaries’ children to school, the organization’s existence will not be placed at stake. In few years time, the current number of 34 college-degree-holders out of the more than 2 thousand members of the association will continue to rise and they will soon become the organization’s pillars.
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Just a simple treat we have prepared for the scheduled visit of the Governor
of the Province of Surigao del Norte, Philippines.
De Oro farmers are known for their hospitality and are admired for their
most welcoming attitude to their local and foreign visitors.
These are but few of our local delicacies that makes our visitors keep on
coming back. If you’re thinking that we have them charged for the treat,
think again. Just the joy on our part to be visited is prize enough for us.
Round table discussion after partaking the food.
On this photo:
Former Board Member and Former Mayor Dominador Taruc ( one in light blue shirt);
Atty. Banjo Navarro (sitting far left); Vice Mayor Fernando Piao (standing far left);
Board Member Jose Alabat, Jr.; Governor Ace Barbers; Vice Governor Noel Catre;
Former Board Member Atty. Norman Gopico; and Incumbent Mayor Mamerto Galanida (in green).
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De Oro is a Spanish term which means “of gold“. “Farming gold through sustainable agriculture” is a slogan which de oro farmers dot com and its farmer-counterparts seek to carry in their association’s cause for economic advancement. In as much as we want this banner be hoisted high lies a hope within our hearts to grow from all our hardships to live and sustain amidst the strains and stresses of our daily farming life. Furthermore, at the very core our efforts grew a desire of building for the most abject of our brothers and sisters a future where we can grow and be expected to rise above our present level. And while this dream may seem far fetched at the moment, we believe that in God’s time we will be able to live in such golden dream.
Helping our members grow ever upward is the primordial purpose of the creation of de oro farmers dot com. This site owes its creation to the inspiration which the humble author gained from the experience in living shoulder to shoulder with his poor brothers and sisters in his island hometown located in the far eastern part of the Philippines – municipality of Socorro. His experience in seeing how they all struggled to survive day after grinding day is truly heart wrenching. While those bitter-sweet memories would forever stay in his thoughts, the idea of sharing the same to the rest of the world is too profound to be left untold.
Having risen with regional prominence as “Of-Gold-Farmers”, the member-beneficiaries of the association have continued taxing their efforts to the utmost without even the slightest thought of advertising their knacks. But as laid down in the immediately preceding paragraph, all their efforts have not been left unnoticed and must not remain so. No less than the people who have shiny badges on their office doors, these poor farmers have also proven their worth in their own field of endeavor and to them shall befall all the deep pride and appreciation.
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