kaban galing - front cover - galing pook

8 LIGAO CITY
The Road to Peace is Prosperity
Upland Central Economic Zone
AS a city whose economy depends on agriculture, Ligao City in the
province of Albay has a long standing problem of low productivity and
low income of farmers. Poverty has spawned insurgency that continues
to grow, especially in the upland barangays.
Roots of the Insurgency
In 2000 then City Mayor Fernando Gonzales, now Albay governor,
conceived of a program that would promote development in the upland
agricultural barangays. Five contiguous and strategically located
barangays—Tandanura, Oma-oma, Busac, Tiongson and Tupaz—were
clustered into what is now called the Upland Central Economic Zone.
Three goals were set for the economic zone: (a) alleviate poverty;
(b) provide livelihood opportunities; and (c) address the roots of the
insurgency.
Strategic Interventions
The immediate programs were directed at providing (a) farm-to-market
roads; (b) social facilities and services (water, electricity and health care);
(c) school buildings and educational facilities; and (d) peace and order.
The main strategy was to make Oma-Oma, largest among the five
barangays, accessible. An 8-kilometer road was reopened and
concreted to connect Oma-Oma to barangay Paulba, a trading center
and transit point. Together with the road project was constructed a
Bagsakan Center and a multi-purpose dryer in sitio Managanaga, where
people from the five clustered barangays converged on their way to
Paulba. Other roads linking other barangays to the economic zone were
also constructed.
29