DAVAO ORIENTIAL, April 3 (PIA)---After the chilling gust of Typhoon Pablo in the three east-coast towns of Davao Oriental, Hot Pablo emerges. It ignites a sizzling spirit to pursue a much better livelihood, bringing a spicy hope for a much better future for typhoon victims.
Both the local and the national governments were in quandary to determine what livelihood to provide residents in Davao Oriental towns of Boston, Cateel and Baganga after vast agricultural lands mostly planted with coconut trees were whacked by Typhoon Pablo on December 4, 2012.
However, in the midst of that devastation, the chilli plant was found resilient. Such plant never came to mind to provide the much-needed livelihood for typhoon victims. One day the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Davao Oriental Provincial Office found the hot chilli products hitting brisk sales during the International Food Exhibition in May 2013, five months after Typhoon Pablo. The IFEX trade exposure of that single Davao Oriental producer of powdered chilli clinched hefty orders from domestic and international institutional buyers among whom were from Brunei Darussalam and Singapore. That stirred the idea of chilli production as a potent source of livelihood among Davao Oriental typhoon victims who used to depend mostly on coconuts.
Even President Benigno S. Aquino III got hot over promoting chilli products which he was first heard labelling them as “Hot Pablo” during the Mindanao Business Conference (Minbizcon) in August 2013. He revealed in the Minbizcon media briefing that DTI made a P2.4 million exports to Singapore and Brunei Darrussalam of chilli products from typhoon Pablo-hit areas.
During that time, the President made the public understand that the “Hot Pablo” he was talking about was “paminta” or black pepper. Upon inquiry with DTI, the Hot Pablo turned out to be the hot chilli known in Filipino as “siling labuyo”.
Siling Labuyo is popular in the east-coast towns of Davao Oriental as “Katumbaw” which when dried and powdered, is called “Dumang”. Jose Indona, DTI senior trade industry development specialist (STIDS) in-charge of chilli projects, describes Dumang as the favorite food ingredient among Dawenyos in the east-coast of Davao Oriental. For Dabawenyos, Dumang can even go well with salt mixed in rice.
“The Dabawenyos have been planting chilli; they really love Dumang,” he said.
They may have lost their coconut trees, but they have started to bring back the productivity of their lands through planting chilli. Maricel Perando, processor of Ayana’s Siling Kinamayo says that the typhoon victims are indeed making a living out of chilli plants, enabling them to provide the immediate needs of their families. Perando now has 25 chilli growers from whom she buys fresh ripe chilli at P80 per kilo.
“They can really have something for their daily needs,” she said in Cebuano referring to her chilli growers.
Aside from Ayana’s Siling Kinamayo, two other new chilli product processors emerge in the market through the assistance of DTI. These are the MAMA’s Chilli which mainly produces chilli paste and the Food Processors Association of Taytayan (in Cateel) which concentrates on powdered chilli. DTI still continues to assist the Subangon Dumang Makers in marketing its chilli powder, tying it up with institutional buyers here and abroad.
DTI 11 has already acquired the trade mark “Hot Pablo” to label all the chilli products of Davao Oriental but it is yet to put that mark on each chilli items as processors have yet to fully comply with the Food and
Drugs Administration (FDA) requirements, Indona explained. In spite this, the chilli products of Davao Oriental are already making it big in the local and international markets. The February 2014 Hot Pablo Chilli Project Status of DTI 11 showed that domestic sales of such chilli products ran more than P1.6 million; exports heaped $52,291 sales while P2 million additional investments were generated.
President Aquino had seen the initial successes of Hot Pablo, prompting him to personally see the chilli plantation in an aerial viewing he made during his recent visit in Cateel, Davao Oriental. He encouraged Dabawenyos to produce more as he noted the expanding market for Hot Pablo Chilli products.
“Kumbaga yong oportunidad ay nandiyan ho. Samantalahin natin para naman talagang lubusan ang pag-angat natin. (As said, the opportunity is there. Let’s take advantage of it, so we really will prosper.),” President Aquino said in his speech at the Municipal Plaza in Cateel Davao Oriental on February 24.
Typhoon Pablo may have swept the coconut farms on which the Dabawenyos in the east-coast towns of Davao Oriental have long been banking on for a living. However, the lowly hot chilli plant is spicing up their lives giving them hope for a much bigger income. (Jeanevive Duron-Abangan, PIA 11)
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