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ELIAS HIMAL MANTILLA
A Success Story
He is the eldest child in a brood of nine of the spouses Elpedio Mantilla, Sr. (deceased) and Eustaquia Himal Mantilla. He was only fifteen years of age when he started cultivating the land that was later awarded to him in 1976 thru an Emancipation Patent that is under PD 27. His farm lot is also planted with Lakatan, Guava and also vegetables. He also indulges in backyard raising, such as Native Chicken and Hog, making his land fully productive. He also built his concrete dwelling in his own farm lot. With his farm income, he was able to acquire their household appliances, the television, refrigerator, dining set, to name a few. Also, he was able to own three (3) units Single Motorcycle. The farm implements that he has now such as the Turtle & Thresher are products of hard labor from the farm. With the farm implements that he owns and being equipped with the knowledge from the Trainings he attended, he is able to serve a number of Farmers in the ARC.
He was able to finish his first year college in Commerce, however, he then settled down with Lerna Iyog wherein they are blessed with nine (9) children, five (5) boys and four (4) girls. Though, busy with his nine (9) activities, still, he finds time in helping Ng Lerma in the household chores and also with their small buy & sell business (Banana- Cardava variety), even the making of their curtains and doing the laundry. Really, a devoted husband and father. Nong Bebe as he is fondly called is a Jack of All of Trait so to speak, a farmer, carpenter, mason, mechanic, electrician, driver, a sincere leader.
When Samahang Nayon was established in 1980, he was one of the pioneer member who became the Chairman in Basag chapter until they graduated into a cooperative, the Basag Multi- Purpose Cooperative (BMPC) in 1989, but after which, he then concentrated on cultivating in another landholding owned by the late Atty. Alberto Gaibo. This is because, his family is becoming bigger and he needs additional income to send his children to school.
Though, he was not an officer then of the BMPC, still his conviction to help the cooperative was there as evidenced by the Deed Donation he executed in favor of the BMPC, he donated the lot being built now with the Multi- Purpose Cooperative Building and the Solar Drier, the negotiation was done thru the effort of Mauriel T. Fesalboni, the Senior Agrarian Reform technologist and Development Facilitator of ARC- Basag and now the MARO of Butuan City.
In the year 2000, he became the Chairperson of the BMPC. It was then during his leadership that the cooperative began to revive its charisma to the members in the sense, that the cooperative lost its good standing when the Rice Production Loan with the Land Bank of the Philippines (RPL-LBP) packaged with Irrigation Pump Loan (IPL) become past due. He made plans/ strategies together with the other BODs on how to collects past due accounts. Later, he decided to act as the Manager of BMPC who received a few projects from the Agrarian Reform Support Program (ARSP) and then from the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project (ARISP II), particularly, the Agri-development Project which is giving Farm Inputs to the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) who are members of BMPC thru a small interest rate loan. So far, the project is doing well, they now engage in Well-Milled Rice trading that comes from the payments of the loans of the members which is in terms of Palay. The past due RPL & IPL account from LBP is now being restricted. Collection strategy is being strengthened. Proposal on returning the Irrigation Pumps is under negotiation, hopefully, the BMPC will be relieved with the burden of such loan. With Nong Bebe’s patience and determination as a leader, BMPC will never go wrong.
