Born from the uplands in the mountainous part of Abra, Mrs. Apolonia S. Tabaday, a 57-year old resident of Gacab, Malibcong wasn’t able to finish studies. Tilling the fringes and farming the lands is the only way her parents taught her as a way of living.
While trying to make ends meet in a continuous work in the fields, members of the New People’s Army persistently convinced her to join them in their ideology. Tired and fed up of the same cycle of everyday life, she gave in to these people in 1985. She spent 12 years of her life serving as a medic of these people in the mountains. In January 1997, she finally realized things and came home.
As the government making efforts in taking good care of rebel returnees, she was offered a Job as Barangay Health Worker since she gained an experience being a medic for 12 years. It was this time when the Scholarship for Training and Employment Program (STEP) of TESDA was bought into their barangay and she attended the Training on Animal Production (Poultry-Chicken) NCII. This is a program of TESDA under the joint effort of National Commission on Indigenous People and 24th Infantry Battalion, implemented by Mt. Carmel Agri-Tourism and Training Center, Inc.
She is very thankful of the training as this has changed her life. After the training, she passed the National Assessment and was given a starter tool kit by TESDA. She used the 50 heads layering chicken from TESDA which Mt. Carmel also added and she put up an egg layering and poultry business. Now, she isn’t only selling eggs and chicken but also helping the people of her barangay to save money and time as they don’t need to travel to Bangued to buy anymore. Now because of her business, there is enough supply of chicken and egg in Gacab, Malibcong. She says the livelihood programs offered by TESDA and Mt. Carmel made a huge difference in her life.
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