French-Filipino non-government organization Together-Ensemble Foundation recently donated 10 tons of rice to North Cotobato starving farmers.
The donation came in the aftermath of the recent violent dispersal by the police authorities of the protesting farmers who blocked the national highway in Kidapawan City for three days, as they desperately looked to the government for assistance due to the prolonged drought caused by El Niño and the climate change.
Together-Ensemble President Hubert d’Aboville and Treasurer Ruben Torres traveled to Kidapawan to distribute the rice, which they acquired from the National Food Authority (NFA) at a discounted rate.
To ensure that the rice goes to the starving farmers, d’Aboville coordinated the distribution of 5 tons of rice with Cardinal Orlando Quevedo and the other 5 tons were distributed through Caritas, headed by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.
NFA Administrator Renan Dalisay, Provincial Director Gerry Baquiran and Regional Director Marcelino Alvarez assisted Together-Ensemble in the rice procurement and transportation.
Together-Ensemble has the experience in handling crisis, like that in Kidapawan. In two occasions, it distributed large quantities of rice when conflicts happened in Pikit and when famine broke out in Carmen. In both cases, the foundation closely worked with the church leaders.
Together Ensemble was established in the wake of Typhoon Ruping in 1990 and the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991.
The foundation aims to foster development and progress in the Philippines by offering timely relief operations for victims of natural calamities, supporting community’s sustainable recovery, and rural development in remote poor areas.
Recently, Together-Ensemble completed and turned over a newly constructed school building with two classrooms for the kindergarten of Tiglawigan Elementary School in Cadiz, Negros Occidental.
It also donated an ambulance, along with computers, to the province and clothes and toys for indigent children in the municipality.