What I like about my job in Malampaya is its ability to produce fresh adventures for me to do. I love doing things I have not done before. I'm forever a curious individual, and they make me assess what I am capable to do, or where my limit is. Last March 17, I was sent by my office to Dumaran, a slowly progressing municipality located north of Palawan.

     The town is typically rural, and the surrounding environment is characterized by sweeping hills, mountains that are still thick with vegetation, and neither large nor small patches of agricultural lands. During summer, the land is dry, and you notice ant hills that seem to glisten under the sweltering heat of the sun. Most people are engage in farming, but a large percentage is also into fishing and producing cashew nuts.

     Since livelihood in the town seem to be concentrated in cashew production, fishing, and farming -- Dumaran residents are on the look out for institutions and foundations that offer livelihood assistance with no collateral requirement except trust and honesty. This is where we come in. In recent months, we have released loans to several cooperatives in Dumaran whose members have no income activities.

     My recent visit resulted to a beautiful picture where I sat on sacks upon sacks of salt produced by the members of a multi-purpose cooperative there. Salt is a basic in cooking. It is needed by every home in th entire province. I was happy to note that the members of the multi-purpose cooperative did not waste any time to start their livelihood project. They now produce rock salt out of a dozen make-shift salt beds (they still have to make sturdier ones), and buyers are coming in. Compared to a large salt factory in Arizona (I stumbled on it in the Internet) where sea water is fed into large (almost mechanized) ponds and gradually evaporates by the sun and wind, the salt ponds of Dumaran are nothing. But at least the members of the cooperative have something to do which can earn them income.