TARBAMC Holds 18th Anniversary

The Tairan Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Agricultural Multi-Purpose Cooperative (TARBAMC) celebrates its eighteenth (18) year anniversary in Tairan, Lantawan municipality, February 8. 

The Alano clan in Basilan formerly owned the vast agricultural land of 1,434 hectares in Tairan under the J.S. Alano Group of Companies. When the CARP Law took effect in 1988, the previous landowner proposed the stock distribution option (SDO) which the farm workers also ratified.  Few years thereafter, the landowner revoked the SDO scheme and voluntarily offered the property to the government under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.  And in 1995, certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) were generated and distributed in the name of the ARB cooperative, TARBAMC, who took over the management of the plantation.

This thriving community of close to 4,000 residents came to life with a series of fun-filled activities that started with an early morning mass for the Christian and later a duwa’a for its Muslim members. Relay and baseball games followed after the rites.

 

Highlighting the visit was the presence of the DAR-ARMM Secretary Atty. Aquino S. Sajili and the supportive Basilan governor, Jum J. Akbar, Lantawan municipal mayor, Rustam Ismael, together with officials from the Department of Agrarian Reform and local government.

In a meeting with the visiting officials, TARBAMC manager, Carlito Suela, and chairman of the board of directors, Silvestre Ambasa, welcomed proposed developmental projects into this thriving agrarian reform community which the local government is grooming to be a model community of the municipality.

  (TARBAMC Chairman of the Board, Silvestre Ambasa and Manager, Carlito Suela)

The lady governor was thankful for the presence of the DAR-ARMM Secretary and his entourage. She affirmed that the Secretary is showing the sincerity of DAR with its commitment to assist the ARC movement. She enjoined everyone to raise the DAR program to a higher level and assured her entire support to whatever DAR project is implemented. With all the good things happening around the ARCs, she expected the best results for TARBAMC, not only in service to the village of Tairan, but to the entire province of Basilan as well. She urged the Secretary to continue DAR’s noble goals for Basilan. Stressing that the Basilan has its good sides as well, she asked for additional support for the province in terms of developmental projects and hoped that DAR will help usher in more projects into the province.

 (Basilan Provincial Governor Jum Akbar, Basilan PARO Suwaib Ismael and 

DAR-ARMM Secretary Aquino Sajili)

TARBAMC has been applied for inclusion under the Second Agrarian Reform Communities Project (ARCP 2) for ARCs that will stand to benefit projects with USD 30 million funding or roughly  PhP 1.2 billion along with selected agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations in Tipo-tipo, Sumisip, Ungkaya Pukan and Maluso.

Possible projects eyed to be implemented in the area are the construction of irrigation system for a potential 150-hectare rice production area, rehabilitation of the wharf, and concreting of five-kilometer whart-to-plantation road.

 

 (From the Special Management Team of the ARCP 2, Engr. Al Sapie, Lantawan mayor Rustam Ismael, and former Lantawan mayor and current Basilan provincial administrator, Tahira Ismael)

The TARBAMC manager thanked the visiting officials for coming to Tairan. Together with the coop officials, he was glad that the visitors are willing to assist their community. He also acknowledged the support of the mayor who helped them plant crops.

The visit capped with a brief tour to the wharf that served the ARC in the transport of their produce to traders in Isabela City.