IN OUR previous post, we mentioned that, despite the wonderful objectives and methodology of the Family Farm Schools, the concept has not been able to attract the really big bucks in terms of financial support. This must not denigrate, however, the kindness of so many people and corporations who have, to this day, given much to sustain the concept. Without their help, the Family Farm Schools would never have taken off at all.
One of the more salutary side-benefits of the farm schools is the inevitable involvement of the parents and families of the students in the whole effort. As the astounded parents observe their budding farmer sons become accomplished in their trade, they naturally begin to foster an active curiosity about the school. Many of the parents have responded to activities –- both spiritual and otherwise -– that the farm school managers manage to drum up. The concept of family is honed in the minds of the students and their relatives. They are taught to find dignity in ordinary work, and best of all, guided on how to do their work to the best of their respective abilities. Finally, in keeping with the schools’ tradition, the students and their families find out how work well done and offered up to God becomes the best work of all.
This kind of a positive and spiritual mindset is so radically different from those who believe that they are owed work, and when they get some, do such work in a lackadaisical manner. There is no pride in self or in the work being done. This can probably be attributed to the lack of a strong spiritual formation in the worker.
Man, after all, does not live on bread alone.
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Dear Mr Zialcita,
Why dont you send me an email at and let us work out a suitable arrangement for when and where we can meet while in metro manila?
Best regards!
April 20th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Please give me your address and contact numbers in Metro Manila.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
I am very happy with the many positive responses that this little series of blogs on the Family Farm Schools has managed to generate. Ms Legiralde gives us a very succint and fuller appreciation of the assistance given by MFI to the Bais FFS, and the directions being taken by the school towards self-sufficiency. Mr Rodriguez volunteered at Tuy, and came out better for this. (I will mention both responses to people close to my heart — the Ramos family who donated the land in Tuy and Rene Gayo for the Bais FFS)
April 8th, 2008 at 8:01 am
There is a family farm school exclusively for women in the town of Balete in Batangas. I know there there is a separate school for men but I do not know where it is. I am not sure if the Balete campus is still operating. When I visited the school, out of plain curiosity, about three years back, they were in dire financial straits.
I believe this school was set up by a Spanish NGO a number of years back, and might even predate the one built on the Ayala-donated land.
I could find out more for anyone interested. It is a just few kilometers from our farm lot.
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I work for MFI Foundation, Inc (formerly Meralco Foundation Inc.) which helped establish the Bais Family Farm School located in Sitio Cantugot, Brgy. Sab-ahan Bais City in Negros Oriental.
Sir, we are grateful for this opportunity to be able to discuss the family farm schools here in our country and the need for development in our agricultural sector.
Our organization believes in the role that education plays in that much-needed progress and we envision the creation of future farmers that 1) truly know their resources and have the skills to maximize what they have, and 2) are knowledgeable and utilize progressive farming technologies, and 3) are equipped and experienced in agri-business to become successful farmer-entrepreneurs. We want our nation’s subsistent farmers to have the opportunity to become farmer-entrepreneurs that will serve as catalysts for rural development in their communities.
As of 2006, Bais Family Farm School has had a total of 134 graduates, with an average of 19 graduates per year since 1998.
It is currently fully subsidized by MFI but it is our goal to make our farm school self-sufficient. We are in the process of developing feasible agri-business projects that will serve as training venues for BFFS students and farmers in the community. But we need the support of concerned government agencies, the private sector and industry groups, financing groups and private individuals who can come in as benefactors or sponsors of scholarships for BFFS students.
We are also developing the concept of an MFI Farm Business Institute (MFI-FBI) which may be built in Jala-Jala, Rizal and with perhaps, a corresponding satellite farm in Palo Alto, Laguna.
The concept of the MFI-FBI is that of a self-sufficient school in the field of agri- entrepreneurship. It should include agri-business ventures, that is, in itself, the institute’s core competency. These agri-business ventures will serve as a laboratory for the development of entrepreneurship within our students. The institute will also focus on the interrelations between theoretical knowledge and practical work that translate to financial returns, which in turn will be a motivating factor in the students’ learning process.
If anyone wishes to find out more about Bais Family Farm School and to support the development of MFI-FBI, please contact me at mt.legiralde@mfi.org.ph.
Ma. Theresa Legiralde
Head of Agri-Projects/MFI Farm Business Institute