I will never look at vegetables the same way again - Lucy

ORMOC CITY, Philippines – “I will never look at vegetables the same way again”—was how Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez (4th dist., Leyte) described her “humbling” experience with the vegetable farmers of Brgy. Cabingtan in this city when she visited them for the inauguration of her tramline project last August 23.

The simple project, which she described a “life changing” one for many needy people, has again strengthened Lucy’s resolve to do her best to serve her constituents after her visit there.

Cabingtan is one of Ormoc’s vegetable-producing villages situated in the highlands, and it was here where she came up close to knowing what one farmer has to go through before their cabbages, carrots, tomatoes and other products reach the tables of many homes. 

The congresswoman said she never realized how a simple, almost primitive technology, can give hope to simple vegetable farmers of a better life.

The farmers told Lucy that before the tramline, they would bring down their produce the traditional way—either by carrying it on their backs in wicker baskets or transporting it through carabao-drawn carts.

The latter method bruises their vegetables more, bringing down its price, while the former preserves the quality of their vegetables better, but a very tiring task that further saps their energy in haggling with middlemen.

While they could bring their produce to the market to sell it directly to the people, the prospect of a glut and of their produce not being sold out in a day is another problem. This forces them to stay overnight at the market where they are further exposed to incidents of muggings, thus depriving them totally of their earnings.

Either way, they told Lucy, they were “kanunay alkanse” (always on the losing end). But with the tramline, they have hope, they said, adding that vegetables brought down in good shape command better prices and can be kept fresh longer.

In her brief speech, Lucy thanked the vegetable farmers for their warm welcome. It made her realize that there is a different world than what she’s been used to, and it was an eye-opening experience for her, she said.

She will never look at vegetables the same way again, she quipped, because she would always remember that behind one cabbage leaf is a story of the backbreaking work of a farmer.

Lucy told the farmers that she would always pray that the tramline, a project she got from the Department of Agriculture and implemented through the DPWH, would somehow ease their lives and make a difference.

She also asked them to use it well, maintain it, and report any needs for repair to the tramline at the slightest sign of wear and tear. - THE FREEMAN