ANGELES CITY – Balibago village, the commercial district of Angeles City, has proven that a piggery farm can exist within a busy commercial urban community with very little impact on the environment.
In fact, this village had proven that it can use its community resources to put up an organic piggery farm and provide income for senior citizens.
Most people would think that piggeries are smelly, teeming with flies and surrounded by stench that could be smelled from a mile away forcing operators to place their pig pens far from urban centers.
But in Angeles City, a piggery is run by a cooperative right in the heart of the city's business district. Unlike other areas where piggeries are a source of endless complaints from the local population, the "Babuyang Walang Amoy" or Odorless Pigpen in Balibago village runs unopposed and boasts of pig sties that reduce the characteristic smell of pig dung in an operation that is both low impact and environment friendly.
Balibago Village Captain Rodelio "Tony" Mamac said that the program was started by the village council in cooperation with senior citizens of the village who formed themselves into a cooperative to start the maverick business.
Mamac said that the daunting task seemed hard at first but since the barangay had the foresight to turn a former dumpster inside Hadrian Village into a community farm, the piggery project was realized. Located at Hadrian Village, the piggery occupies the area that was once used as dumping site for city trash.
The area was converted by the village government into a community vegetable farm and now also hosts three pig pens constructed from recycled construction materials.
Mamac was earlier given a P50,000 development assistance and he thought of putting the money into good use by urging the creation of a cooperative with senior citizens and employees of the village who contributed P2,500 each for the construction of the pig pens.
The P50,000 was used to purchase commercial pig stocks. Previously, the piggery has 56 heads and 16 of which are layers and are expected to produce new piglets barely a few months since the program's inception.
Manned by the cooperative's volunteers, the piggery runs with no cost on manpower. Today, the piggery has 320 heads. This has prompted the barangay officials to have one person undergo veterinary training to tend to the sanitary and health needs of the piggery farm.
The piggery sources its pig food from the nearby organic vegetable farm also operated by the barangay and from the dozens of restaurants and food establishments in the business district.
The village has the leftovers collected, like vegetables and fruits, and process these to be fed to the stocks. The process contributes to lessening the residual wastes from restaurants that end up in dumpsites.
There are over a hundred restaurants hotels and small eateries in Balibago alone, which means a large supply of food material for the poultry farm.
The organic vegetable farm that the barangay council had set up a few years back is also a source of food for the local community; the leftovers and spoilage from this farm also end up in the organic piggery menu.
"We have means to turn what could have been a high-impact environment activity into a low-impact and sustainable means of livelihood. It has also provided an effective cycle of adaptive pro-environment initiatives.
Food leftovers from restaurants that end up as waste in dump sites are now sorted and processed for pig food while our organic vegetable garden also provides the fiber needed for the pig's diet," Mamac said.
The cooperative that runs the place also makes use of available technology and common sense to reduce the impact of the pig's waste on the local community. The pens were constructed with two to three foot deep milled rice hull or other organic materials above the flooring to act as bedding for the pigs. This in turn absorbs the moisture from the pigs' waste. The facility also does not use commercial feeds thus reducing the smell on pigs' wastes considerably.
Wallowing ponds were also made available for each of the pens with water depth of one to four inches for further sanitation of the pigs. Under such conditions, pigs are stress free and are less prone to sickness and diseases.
A water treatment facility is also in place for the waste water coming from the pens. Mamac said that there is emphasis on how the facility prepares the food of the pigs and even on how the pig pens were constructed. "The objective was to make the pens environment and community-friendly," Mamac added.
The administrators of the piggery are now coordinating with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for training programs on meat processing. The Odorless Pigpen is envisioned to become the first ever community operated organic livestock and meat processing facility in Angeles City. However, the program on meat processing was later shelved as the community found it more profitable to engage in a pig roasting business.
Mamac said that one roasted pig of an average size can net up to P6, 000 to 8, 000 in income if sold per kilo. He added that roasted organic pigs are very much in demand among local parties and events here. He added that the appeal of organic-raised pigs is the fact that these have not been exposed to medical vaccines other synthetic feed growers.
The Barangay Council of Balibago expects to generate further employment under the program. Mamac said that the barangay has managed to prove that a sustainable and odorless pig pen facility could be successful with the help and involvement of the community.
"People say that pig farming is a smelly business but here in Balibago, we have proven that the only odor that one can smell here is the sweet odor of success," Mamac said, hoping that their little project could serve as a model for livelihood programs in both rural and urban areas.