In the simple rural area of Sitio Banglit in Barangay Manlapig, Capas, Tarlac, rice farming has long been the lifeblood of the community. But the absence of proper drying facilities has posed persistent challenges on the quantity and quality of the community’s rice harvest.
According to Abel Sicat, a farmer and officer of the Banglit Integrated Farmers Producers Irrigators Association, traditionally they dry their rice harvest on roadsides.
Abel admits that the risk was high and the quality of their crops often suffer due to vehicles constantly traversing the road.
“Kapagka binilad mo po sa kalsada [ang bigas], mga 60 percent madudurog po ‘yan kaya papasok sa second class na bigas na lang po,” Abel explained to the team of DSWD’s #Kwento ng Pag-asa at Pagbabago (#KPAP).
To address this concern, the villagers decided to come together and participate in the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS), a community-driven development (CDD) program that empowers poor municipalities to identify, plan, implement, and monitor subprojects that will address the problems of their localities.
“Nag-identify po ng top three problems nung barangay. Yun nga po ang mga lumitaw is yung barangay road, kakulangan sa kita nung mga magsasaka, and pangangailangan doon sa medical. So, after po ng participatory situational analysis nagsagawa po sila ng barangay assembly kung saan po pinresent po sa barangay o sa community kung alin doon sa tatlong priority subprojects yung kanilang ipo-propose sa KALAHI-CIDSS and napag-agreehan po ng komunidad na magkaroon po ng solar dryer,” Roy Calesterio, Area Coordinator of KALAHI-CIDSS, explained to #KPAP.
Capas Municipal Mayor Roseller Rodriguez said the community members agreed to choose the solar dryer to augment the agricultural capacities of farmers.
“Iyon ay isa sa mga napag-usapan namin ng DSWD na isang napakagandang proyekto para tulong sa ating mga magsasaka kaya iyon ay naaprubahan sa Barangay Manlapig. Pwedeng i-augment yon sa mga agricultural infrastructure,” Mayor Rodriguez pointed out.
In February 2025, the construction of the subproject began and was completed a month later. The final output includes a storage shed and a 100-meter solar dryer at Php1.65 million in total cost.
Barangay Captain Ricky Datu said the project has significantly improved rice quality and yield.
“Usually kung nag-haharvest po sila ay magbibilad sila sa daan, madudurog sa mga daan sa mga sasakyan na dumadaan. Pagka pinagiling mo yung recovery po ng bigas mababa na unlike po dito sa solar dryer sa project ng ating gobyerno ng KALAHI-CIDSS, mas malaking tulong po ito kasi pag binilad mo po rito yung quality ng bigas maganda, mataas ang recover niya,” Chairman Ricky pointed out.
Ricky said their farmers no longer need to sell their rice cheaply because they can also dry and store their grains while waiting for the market price to become more favorable.
“Kasi kung wala hindi mo po mabibilad, mapupwersa ka pong ibenta mo sa mababang presyo katulad po kung magkano lang ang presyo ng sariwa pero kung nabilad po, na-dry pwede mong itabi,” Chairman Ricky stressed.
For farmer-beneficiary Domingo Sotto, the solar dryer has provided a sense of relief to them especially during uncertain weather conditions.
“Kaya katulad niyan kung makulimlim, hindi ka makakabilad. Kung mayroong dryer, maganda napapakinabangan na namin ngayon,” Domingo said.
Beyond infrastructure, KALAHI-CIDSS also brought valuable knowledge and a sense of community participation to development to the farmers of Barangay Manlapig.
“Nagising po kami dito sa programang ito at marami po kaming natutunan kasi nakikita po namin sa mga programa niyo, sa KALAHI-CIDSS ng DSWD, hindi lang po ang mga structure na binibigay niyo sa amin nilalagyan po nyo kami ng karunungan at katalinuhan na hindi po namin dating alam ang mga programang ito…natuto po kaming umangat doon sa pakikisalamuha sa tao. Lalong-lalo na po sa pakikiambag sa programa ng gobyerno,” Abel told the #KPAP team.
For the 80 members of the farmers’ association, they will work together to ensure that the subproject will be properly utilized and maintained for the future generation of farmers in their town.
“Aming pagsisikapan na hindi po siya masisira, i-maintain po namin ito,” Abel said.
From having no permanent space for drying their rice grains, to having their own area for agricultural production, the farmers of Barangay Manlapig now have a solar dryer that serves as a symbol of progress made possible by community action and unity.
The #KPAP, the DSWD’s award winning online documentary, is a joint production of the Traditional Media Service (TMS) and the Digital Media Service (DMS) which are under the Strategic Communications. It is hosted by TMS Information Officer Bianca Piedad-Tamondong and is posted every Tuesday on the DSWD’s official Facebook page. (AKDL)
