agrarian reform, rural development, local governance, Philippines

Pedra Villastique aka P-jing has been a member and a paralegal of the Calatcat Farmers Multi-purpose Cooperative (CFMPC) for ten years. She is widely recognized because of her enthusiasm and dedication especially in efforts promoting the economic improvement and sustainability of the organization. But despite her energy, P-jing has not been considered to take the lead in the organization.

This changed when the very passion which has endeared her to fellow CFMPC members were also witnessed by leaders of other Peoples Organizations (POs) as a representative to the Area Coordinating Committee (ACC). The ACC served as venue for discussion among leaders of the 17 people's organizations under the Area Specific Development Program in Misamis Oriental. She maximized the opportunity to grow by never missing any ACC meeting and being the earliest representative to arrive. She enjoyed

During the organizational development planning (ODP) process in February 2008, members of the organization finally recognized her loyalty to the organization by entrusting her to become only the third chairperson of CMPC. Despite being hesitant at first to take the lead, she even surprised herself with the many positive changes that were happening with her organization and with herself.

The first challenge P-jing took was to be a good example to fellow members. To promote sustainable agriculture, she converted to organic farming. To practice transparency, she regularly shared the financial status of the organization by preparing and posting financial reports. She also encouraged the members to raise questions and concerns about her leadership style. As a result, the members have double their involvement in organizational activities and have become engage in discussing direction setting matters of the organization. Recently, they unanimously agreed to increase their capital build up (CBU) for the financial growth of the cooperative.

P-jing acknowledges that being a mother and a wife remain as her primary roles. But the call to be a leader and the challenge to make a difference in the growth of her organization as well as the lives of its 46 members is too hard to pass up. For P-jing, setting priorities and practicing time management are the keys to not only fulfilling her roles in the family but also enjoying the privilege of serving her organization.