“Without frugality none can be rich, and with it very few would be poor.” – Samuel Jackson

Delia Gemma Valle Jugasan recalled being sick as a child including her two siblings somehow due to the lack of nutritious food when they were young. The three of them got goiter.

Even if her parents were not able to provide their wants, let alone their basic needs, she does not harbour any ill feelings towards them instead, she is grateful for her experiences as it shaped her to become a strong person.

It was her grandparents who helped her finish her secondary education. She then finished her BS in Animal Science degree in Baybay, Leyte, mainly through her perseverance, and assistance from her relatives.

On the other hand, Delia Gemma’s husband, Roel, only finished Grade 2 due to the early passage of his father who was bedridden for seven long years which eventually depleted their family’s land resources. The said situation had forced Roel to stop his studies and helped their mother in farming. Eventually, it honed his skills in laboring and farming.

Both Gemma and Roel are good in farming. It has become their bread and butter.

It was in 2012 when Delia Gemma and her household was registered to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) upon meeting the criteria: poor, with 0-14 years old child, and willing to comply with the program’s conditions.

Dr. Costelo, a rice field owner, entrusted three hectares of his land, located at Sitio Huwebesan, Brgy. Aurora, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, to the couple with an agreement of “inupat”.

Inupat means that the couple will cultivate the land using their resources – financing and skills in farming – and provide 1/4 of its yield to the owner every cropping season. It is a farming scheme that is common in the area.

They cultivated the land even if there is no proper water system in the area. Farmers in the said area only rely on the rain to water their rice fields known as “rainfed” system or using water pumps which is costly. Farming comes with risks no matter how skilled the farmer is. Variable such as weather and pests also affect the yield.

Nonetheless, they took the challenge together. At daybreak, the couple is already in the rice field, and only went home after sundown. Roel does the tough labor while Delia Gemma provides support such as preparing meals, helping with light labor, and resourcing. With a lack of financing, they borrow money from individuals enduring its 5% interest or more. Should they have a failed cropping – yields did not meet or exceed financing – they just moved on and farm again hoping to have a better one the next time.

Further, they also utilized some land area by planting falcata trees particularly upon the birth of their children to sell them in time for their tertiary education and to build a sturdy house. They were able to build the latter in 2017.

The frugal way

The family practices frugality in every way possible. Delia Gemma expressed that she grew up this way and saw its advantages hence; she hopes to teach it to her children by integrating it into their daily lives.

She limits their family’s wants and only focuses on their needs. Accordingly, one or two clothes for each of them is already enough. If her children want to buy something, they need to gather 1 sack of kangkong (water spinach) in exchange for it. It is supposed to teach them to work hard for something they want as it doesn’t come easily.

During harvest, Roel does most of the hauling while Delia Gemma does the drying of the rice to lessen expenses.

The grantee shared that she wouldn’t withdraw the cash grants they received from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program for four months or so to save it up until an opportunity to buy pawned rice fields or falcata trees comes.

Building the dream

Using the cash grants and the money they saved from being frugal, they slowly bought and/or accept pawned rice fields. According to Gemrose (one of the children of Delia and Roel) during the validation in 2020, their family now owns seven (7) hectares of rice fields which they bought for Php 200,000, and in possession of eight (8) hectares of pawned rice fields, and 1/2 hectare of pawned falcata trees.

Through their farming experiences, the couple had decided to invest in farming machinery such as water pumps, and mud boats to improve their cropping yields.

In addition, the grantee experienced walking the distance from one barangay into another in search of available trucks to deliver their yields to the buyer as soon as possible to avoid crop damage. This incident had planted the idea of buying their truck. Hence, the grantee had applied for a financial loan in a bank to buy an Elf Truck which costs Php 600,000.

At present, they already paid their debt and the said truck had and is still serving its purpose. Furthermore, the household currently owns a Mitsubishi pick-up car and a Mio motorcycle.

Speaking of investments, after such a long time, the couple had sold their falcata trees in 2012 to finance the tertiary education of Rogem, and Gemrose who only had a one-year gap. Living up to their frugal practices, Roel was the one who did the cutting of trees to lessen the expenses.

After four years of hard work in college, Rogem finished his tertiary education in 2015 with a degree in BS in Marine Transportation and was blessed enough to have his OJT in Europe in the same year. Afterwards, he was also able to embark in a ship each year with an income of Php 70, 000 per month within the length of his time-bounded contract.

Gemrose, on the other hand, was also able to finish her BS in Education at Philippine Normal University in 2016 and had been employed as a public teacher at a school in Del Monte, Talacogon, Agusan del Sur since 2018. In November 2020, she got married and is now living separately from her parents.

The couple maintains a good relationship with each other and with their children. Gemrose, their married child, visits them every weekend. They still practice being frugal and are simple in their appearances.

They are also very active in the Farmers’ Association. Gemma, being the president, has a vision of changing the outlook of their co-farmers on “Kung gikan sa gobyerno (equipment), ila gyud pahimuslan unya walay ibalik sa gobyerno (If it’s from the government, they will really utilize it, until nothing would go back to the government),” she stated. She hopes to change it as she believes that to improve, they ought to give something back to the government to strengthen its confidence not by financial means but by showing that they are taking care of the entrusted provisions and using it appropriately just like how she used wisely their household’s cash grants received from the program.