TOWNS Heroes and Heroines

28 March 2021

To You, dear Distinguished and Humanitarian friends, in The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS):

My name is Ace Estrada, founder of Rural Rising Ph based in Up Village, Diliman, Quezon City. I have been asked to write this letter in order to help save a group of beleaguered farmers from Sto. Nino, Cagayan from imminent ruin. These farmers grow the most beautiful cabbages. However because of the farmers’ inability to bring their produce to market due to COVID-19 restrictions or to market their produce online, the best offer they have are from opportunistic middlemen who are offering just P5/kilo. That amount just covers the cost to harvest these cabbages, never mind the cost to grow or a chance to make a profit from months of labor. One farmer family alone, Jerry and Raquel Baltazar, is looking at 80-tons that is unlikely to get sold. He is still reeling from debt from not being able to sell 120 tons last year. This is just the Baltazars. In the town of Sto. Nino, there is an estimated surplus of 2,000 tons!

Rural Rising is myself and my wife Andie. We are using our own money to help as many distressed farmers as possible by buying their produce at equitable prices and selling them to our group of 14,000 people (https://www.facebook.com/groups/RuRiPh). We have been able to “Rescue Buy” 4 tons last week and are hoping to get another 4 tons. That’s it. I am afraid that we have reached the absorptive capacity of the group to buy more. We are unable to impose more cabbages on our group because we have already imposed on them for other Rescue Buys for different produce all around Luzon. These are tomatoes from Sto. Tomas, Batangas; Sayote from Buguias, Benguet; Cauliflower from Kabayan, Benguet; Carrots from La Trinidad, Benguet; Broccoli from Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya; Onions from Galbaldon, Nueva Ecija; and more.

I am very grateful for this opportunity to be placed infront of you to seek help in whatever form for the farmers…and ALSO for 14,000 hungry families in Payatas. Should you find it in your hearts to leave some of the cabbages with us we shall be very happy to distribute them in Payatas through Fr. Paul Uwemedimo’s Payatas-based/-focused Puno ng Ama Foundation.

I understand that the call is for 60 TOWNS heroines to contribute P1,000 each to hit a fund of P60,000. This amount allows you to buy 5 TONS of cabbages or 40 kilos of cabbages per TOWNS heroine. Some of which you are welcome to take for your households, some we pray you would donate to less fortunate ones.

For your convenience, here are the steps you need to follow to send the amount: 1 Pay the amount above using any of the payment methods below 2 Upload your Proof of Payment here 3 Dispatch shall be on Wednesday, March 31, 2021

You can also choose where to donate your cabbages, just put it in the Notes