Ellein Gerasmio (39) is a native of Trinidad, a town in the northern part of Bohol island. She is a neighbor of our field worker, Phadelyn Aniasco. Ellein has a 13-year-old son Ian, who is now in his 8th grade at the nearby high school. Ian never knew his father as his mother was abandoned by him before he was born. Happily, when Ian was 5 years old, Ellein met Maximiano and they became close despite their 15 year age gap. Ellein has never regretted her decision to marry Maximiano; he is a responsible husband and treats her son as his own. 

 

Ellein works as a barangay health worker and is paid a monthly honorarium of 4,000 pesos ($70). As for Maximiano, he tends the couple’s home front sari-sari store which gives him an average monthly income of 2,000 pesos ($36). He used to work as a tricycle driver, but since his mild stroke in July 2023, he has been unfit to drive. 

 

In February last year, Ellein received a loan from PSHF to redeem her inherited 3,000-square-meter rice farm which had been pawned in September 2021 when she was hospitalised with pneumonia. She has had two rice harvests since then and these produced 54 sacks of unmilled rice. She kept 15 sacks for home consumption and sold the rest for a net income of 24,000 pesos ($420). The income was used to pay back the PSHF loan and make provision for the expenses of the next cropping. Ellein’s next harvest will be this month.

 

Ellein has been offered the opportunity to lease a relative’s one hectare farm; it would be a 4-year lease at a cost of 40,000 pesos ($700). Ellein is applying for a loan to enable her to lease this land and to buy rice seedlings and fertilisers. For the first cropping, Maximiano’s relatives will assist the couple with weeding and planting and be given a fee after the harvest. They will of course be provided with lunch and snacks while working. In the future, Ellein will have the income from rice sales to pay for labourers.

 

The one-hectare farm is expected to yield 160 sacks of unmilled rice each year. After deducting her expenses, Ellein hopes to make a net income of 80,000 pesos ($1,400) a year from her leased land’s rice sales. This income will be a big help in meeting the costs of Maximiano’s medication for his high blood pressure and diabetes. Furthermore, some of the income will be set aside for Ian who will hopefully be entering college by the time the 4-year lease is concluded.

 

We at the PSHF are happy to help Ellein in expanding her farming venture and we wish her and her family well. 

 

 

Analyn T. Gallibot

PSHF Bohol

July 2025