BALBALAN, Kalinga (PIA) - - A family that  has returned home to Kalinga under the Balik Probinsya Program (BP2) is starting new life in the province with the assistance from the government.

Rey Mangubat was a construction worker in Manila but   was left jobless during the height of the COVID-29 pandemic which affected the construction industry. This made him decide to   bring back home to Kalinga   his family to survive.

Mangubat, from Dao-angan in Balbalan, Kalinga received from the Department of Agriculture (DA) 50 heads chicken with feeds, farm tools, vegetable seeds and fertilizer as immediate interventions.

Crisante Rosario, BP2 assistant focal person for CAR, shared that to ensure that the family can get more assistance and engage in other livelihood activities, they integrated them to associations.

 Rey   was taken in as member of the Palao-Guinaang-Man-anilom-Cawayan-Caocawat Farmers Association (PGMKFA) while his wife Rocenda to the Dao-angan Rural Improvement Club (DRIC).

   
According to Rosario,   DA- Special Area for Agricultural Development     provided PGMCCFA   420 heads of chicken with Rey getting 30 heads and 480 to DRIC with Rey’s wife   receiving 20 heads. The beneficiaries were trained on poultry raising, a farm diversification livelihood component of the respective collective enterprise.

 
Rosario said there are 13 BP2 applicants for validation from Kalinga who applied for agriculture assistance, DA’s intervention under this program.

BP2 seeks to decongest urban areas by encouraging people, especially informal settlers to return to their home provinces and assist them in this transition with support and incentives on transportation, family, livelihood, housing, subsistence and education, among others.
 
Others agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development also provides transitory packages for BP2 beneficiaries.  (JDP/PAB-PIA CAR, Kalinga)