By LIWAY C. MANANTAN-YPARRAGUIRRE

MY town Laoac (my family used to live in barangay Cabilaoan), will no longer be as quiet and sluggish. .

This is because of its knight in shining armor, fifth district Congressman Mark O. Cojuangco.

Farming is the main source of livelihood here. No factories, no warehouses, nothing but farm lands (which are practically of no use during dry season). Some of the townsfolk are lucky enough to have families working abroad, mostly in Europe.
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How did Cong. Mark become its knight in shining armor? Well, he gifted my town with water and milk (which will be coming soon).

This engineer-congressman chose Laoac as the pilot area for his Surface Irrigation System project. With his pool of engineers, they searched for the abandoned NIA water pumps or deep well pipes.

The solon said they were able to find 12 which they rehabilitated and are now in working condition. Three of these are now fully operational and can irrigate 200 hectares.

That’s “manna” from heaven for the farmers as the irigasyon which traverses several barangays is now shallow. Its width which used to be several meters can now only be likened to a canal.
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The “NIA” word is in the dictionary of my townmates. This means a place where a big volume of water which irrigates the taltalon or farm land comes from.

It is where the women, arms full of labada, go to wash their pile of dirty clothes. It’s where almost everybody goes to enjoy leisure public bathing

That’s what it used to be, until the NIA pumping stations shut down, including the one in our barangay, located more than a hundred meters away from our house.

I hope this NIA water pumping station is one of the three fully operational NIA deep well pipes rehabilitated by the good congressman.
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The solon said in an interview last Friday he chose Laoac town as pilot area because its agricultural land is flat, the farmers have unity and are cooperative. But more importantly, they were able to locate 12 abandoned NIA (National Irrigation Administration) deep tube pumps

“One of my major initiatives or projects in the district is the surface irrigation system. My pilot project with the Department of Agriculture (DA) is to rehabilitate the abandoned NIA pumps or pipes. The counterpart of DA is to provide funding for the underground pipes (being used in the distribution of water) which is being imported,” Cojuangco disclosed.

Through his soft fund, they bought surplus diesel engines (the ones used in jeepneys) and converted it. “Chassis were fabricated, radiators and other spare parts were put in place,” he said.

“Ang kagandahan nito, available kahit saan ang spare parts, at kabisado ng kahit sinong mekaniko yong makina. Moreover, it’s far more efficient and economical as compared to the Kubota water pumps (being distributed by the government) being used on shallow tube wells,” he added.

“As compared to the traditional open canal irrigation system na madaling masira at sagabal sa mga dumadaang kalabaw at traktors, dito puwedeng magtanim sa ibabaw ng irrigation pipes,” Cojuangco further said
Mark is set to start his dairy project (silage production) also in Laoac.
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The congressman celebrated his 50th birthday last Friday (October 6), one year ahead of his golden birthday celebration.

“By tradition, you must celebrate your 50th birthday. I am so blessed having wonderful parents, prosperity, beautiful children and a very supportive wife.. my love Kimi,” he remarked with a boyish smile.