After two years, the municipality of Buguias will be having its bagsakan center in Barangay Amgaleyguey.

“It will be selling basic commodities like rice, sugar, salt, lard, and other important household needs at factory price,” said Punong Barangay Leo Calabias.

The center is being made possible through a first tranche of P1 million funding provided by the Department of Agriculture under its barangay bagsakan project.

The project is covered by a memorandum of agreement signed by the municipality and the DA regional office in 2009.

The project seeks to provide a barangay-based food depot and distribution system offering affordable, safe, and quality food like products like meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, and fruits at factory prices.

“We can also accommodate indigenous food products like root crops,” said Calabias.

But the project’s implementation was derailed when the barangay council, on the advice of some municipal officials, waived the project to another barangay.

The barangay council later changed its mind and declared null and void its previous action that waived the project to a neighboring barangay, thus paving the way for its implementation.

The 2009 MOA stated that the DA would allocate P2M for the construction of the center with the municipal government providing at least 10 percent cash equity.

The signing of the MOA made possible the release of an initial tranche of P1M to jumpstart the project.

“This is a laudable project that is certain to go a long way in making available basic commodities within reach of the barangays,” said Calabias.

Marilyn Cosalan, agriculturist of the DA’s regional field unit, said she was not inclined to recommend the return of the initial tranche to the regional office if the project is not implemented.

Calabias said the implementation of the project has the support of current municipal officials led by Mayor Melchor Diclas.

As of January 2011, the DA has established 79 bagsakan centers, benefitting 55,000 farmers. Benguet, considered the country’s salad bowl received had the most number of centers with 27, benefitting over 14,000 farmers.

The DA was supposed to build more centers but was stalled because some local governments failed to produce funds as their counterpart.

Bagsakan centers were created to allow farmers to sell their produce directly to buyers, without middlemen as currently being practiced.