This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 11, April 24-30, 2005
PHOTO ESSAY Living
on Corn – and Goats and Cattle
Corn is very much a part of
the lives – and livelihood – of the people of Sta. Cecilia, a village in Aringay,
La Union (244 kms. north of Manila). But they don’t live on corn alone, the crop
not being too profitable as they say. To earn extra income they raise and sell
goats and cattle.
PHOTOS BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Nine-year-old Bato, who
lives in a barrio in Aringay, La Union (244 kms. north of Manila) starts the day
cooking corn the old way – over firewood. It is their way of coping with the
incessant oil price increases. The corn they eat is
harvested from his father’s small land. Sta. Cecilia’s people grow
two kinds of corn: white corn, which is usually sold to manufacturers of the
Ilocos region’s famed chichacorn; and yellow corn, which is commonly made
into animal feeds. But before it can be sold,
the corn first has to be sorted, as prices of corn cobs vary according to their
size. There are three sizes: primera, which fetches P1.50 a piece;
segunda, P1 a piece; and tercera, P150 a sack. Corn is very much a part of
the lives – and livelihood – of the people of Sta. Cecilia. Like his father, his
uncle who is often seen with his cows whether on the road or in the field, is
also a corn planter. Sta. Cecilia’s residents
used to grow tobacco under contract with Lucio Tan’s Fortune Tobacco Company,
but later shifted to corn as raising the former crop is more labor- and
capital-intensive. But Sta. Cecilia’s folks do
not live on corn alone. They say that planting and selling corn is not that
profitable an enterprise. To earn additional income,
they raise and sell goats and cows. These animals are easy to raise, they say,
as they mostly eat grass which abounds in the fields of Sta. Cecilia. Bato’s family lives on
corn: unlike many of their neighbors, they don’t raise goats and cows.
But even on the leanest
days, they are sure to have something on the table as father also plants
sitaw (string beans). Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
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Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
TEXT BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat