AECID and IAG-supported WBA organizes Dive Center and opens opportunity for women

Maluso, Basilan (July 12, 2022) - CMAS-certified divers from within the Western Basilan Alliance convene today in this town for a training package that aims to build their capacity to operate and sustain the WBA Dive Center.

According to Noor Saada, MILAB Project manager, the WBA Dive Center is envisioned as a social enterprise for the alliance while sustaining the competence of their CMAS-certified divers and promoting sustainable tourism within the alliance through a wide range of exciting and waiting-to-be-explored dive sites.

Sarah Miguel Tahajid, one of the CMAS-certified divers assigned to operate the WBA Dive Center, says, she is happy and excited to be part of this engagement and looks forward to visit the pre-identified dive sites. According to her, even if she is a native-born of the place, she has not been able to explore many beautiful places around WBA.

Another female participant and CMAS-certified diver, Gernie Tadjah-Ladjaalam, says, feels lucky to be part of the initiative. According to her, this dive center is a rare but timely opportunity, to capacitate local personnel and open up an opportunity for women employees. Being a woman and part of the process builds up her competence that she can be on par with her male colleagues. Divers and diving have always been for men. With their participation, they now believe that women can be divers, too.

Sarah and Gernie are among the trainees of the WBA Dive Center training package that starts yesterday and is to run until July 24th. During this period they will be trained on proper set-up, maintenance, utilization, and storage of equipment; snorkeling, free diving and introduction to SCUBA as among the services to be offered by the center; identifying dive sites properly and testing the dive equipment to be donated by the AECID-funded MILAB project; work out the menu, tariff and promotional materials for the dive center and write all their learnings into an operations guide for their use and to guide their services and interactions with center clients.

WBA is the first inter-LGU cooperation in Basilan Province and is being capacitated by the Spanish aid agency AECID-funded MILAB 2 Project, implemented by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) in partnership with the provincial and selected municipal governments.

WBA taps VSU PhilRootcrops for Rootcrops-based Livelihood Program in Basilan

VSU PhilRootcrops and WBA personnel visiting Lantawan mayor Nursiya Ismael
and briefing her on PhilRootcrops and opportunities in root crop-based livelihood programs.

VSU PhilRootcrops' New Mission in Basilan: Establishment of Root crops-based Livelihood Program

The Modelling Inter-LGU Alliance in Basilan (MILAB) project of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) deliberated the establishment of a livelihood program as a subject or focus for their alliance building in the western part of the province of Basilan, especially since one of the major crops in the area, the coconut, has been affected by the infestation of the Cocolisap.

 
The IAG-MILAB, which focuses on alliance building and on how it benefits the allied parties, has already formed the Western Basilan Alliance (WBA) which would be the recipient of the planned livelihood program. WBA is currently composed of 4 municipalities which are the Maluso, Lantawan, Sumisip and Tabuan Lasa. Among the other subjects for alliance-building are resource protection, peace promotion, improved communication, etc.

 
The establishment of a root crop-based livelihood program has been considered by MILAB as root crops, especially cassava, are already a staple food in Basilan. In fact, there is already an existing value chain for basic food like the puto (pyuto) made from cassava. However, concerned stakeholders reported gaps like the low shelf life of its raw material, the panggi, or the semi-dried grates that only last for a week.

 
With this, MILAB reached out to PhilRootcrops and asked for technical assistance. As a response, a team from VSU PhilRootcrops went to Basilan to help assess and plan how to improve the food value chains of cassava and other rootcrops in the area.

 
“Gusto na po namin mag-graduate sa panggi.” (We want to graduate from panggi.) This has been stated by one of the members of WBA.

 
The need to expand the value chains has sparked from the necessity of the locals to innovate from panggi and other food products from root crops, as well as due to the Cocolisap infestation in the area that affected their coconut industry, and the need to enhance the peace and order situation in the area. The center plans to enhance the value chains by extending the shelf life of the primary/intermediate products such as grates and making them storable and more tradable like dried grates and flour. The center will provide its technologies and machines developed for the utilization of cassava and other root crops into high-value processed products.

 
The initiative will be a partnership effort of the VSU PhilRootcrops, the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG), the Provincial Government of Basilan, and the formed alliance among the municipalities in the Western part of the province or the WBA. The parties agreed during the meeting to have piloting of root crops production area, training on production and processing of root crops, and capacitate the players in the value chain. Among the other things discussed was the possible establishment of PhilRootcrops extension in the Bangsamoro region or to be one of the ministries under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Reference: PhilRootcrops FB Page - https://web.facebook.com/philrootcrops