By JT Llanes
As faith would have it, a son of Benguet returned to his roots of being a farmer after having the opportunity to finish his studies, having a 9-to-5 job, and even becoming an Overseas Filipino Worker or OFW.
Johnny Butangen, a member of the Green Prosperity Credit Cooperative (GPCC) based in Barangay Cattubo, Atok, Benguet, decided to continue and expand the operation of his Parents-in-law’s farm to support his family.
After graduating college with a degree in computer science, Butangen, who found a job as an office worker in a credit cooperative serving local farmers in La Trinidad, Benguet, decided to become an OFW to support his growing family for many years.
After finishing his contract as an OFW, and with the accumulated earnings that he gathered, Johnny then decided to go back to Atok and invest his earnings in different equipment and facilities needed in operating the 1,700 square meter farming area of his Parents-in-Law while considering a career in becoming a full-time farmer.
“My course in college as a computer science graduate had no relation to my work as a credit loan officer, as well as being a spray painter in a shipyard in South Korea for more than four years. My being a former credit loan officer with farmers as our clients and having direct experience in farming by helping my parents paved the way for me to return home and encouraged me to invest my earnings in agriculture and to become a full-time farmer on our farm to continue its production,” Butangen explained.