RAFI, Cansomoroy Orchestrate ‘Rebirth’ of the Barangay’s Development Project

With a past attempt at partnership not pushing through, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. and the community of Cansomoroy in Balamban town has revived the effort to work hand-in-hand in helping the barangay establish its development project.

Efforts are already underway to implement the project again after it was discontinued in 2012 following one year of planning.

“For the first three months of the project, we would plan to have the social preparation. We would also consider updating the profile that was made because the last profiling was still in 2012,” said Theresa Katrina Etabag, RAFI development officer for the Cansamoroy project.

Cansamoroy is a nine- square-kilometer mountainous barangay located in the municipality of Balamban, Cebu. It is a 39-kilometer drive from Cebu City via the Transcentral Highway.

The barangay is agricultural, and is the site of RAFI’s The Kool Adventure Camp (KAC) facility.

In 2012, a Community Development Project was started in the barangay as a component of KAC, with the aim of developing participative and engaged Cansomoroy residents through involvement and initiative in implementing the barangay’s development plan.

The advocacy is intended to help the people of Cansamoroy increase their opportunity to grow as a community and assist the barangay in many different ways.

For Barangay Captain Emilia Montecillo, they could achieve their plan if all would work together in the project planning.

“We are currently facing some problems in our barangay and one of these is on waste management but I believe we can overcome these problems using our own natural resources,” she said.

“Our mothers can make handicrafts (like that of keychain, t-shirt printing, souvenir items for KAC) as their source of livelihood. This way, their time can be utilized well at the same time earning and they can have less time for tsismis. The project can also help us with the advocacy as we plan to regulate waste management and also in facilitating trainings on making products from indigenous materials,” she added.

She was also eyeing the development of an abaca plantation in Cansomoroy, which they started but ended prematurely after the seedlings they planted died. RAFI, she said, can help link them with organizations with the correct expertise to improve ways on propagation.

Montecillo said the Barangay Cansamoroy Council has expressed full support for and pledged to do what they can in this Community Development Project.