Aira Jane Abuan @aira

Jul 8

Teresa Soliweg, an Ibaloi, was a potato farmer before she was tapped by Shopwise -- now a big grocery chain -- to supply Baguio vegetables for their first store in Alabang.

"Isa ako sa unang suppliers ng Shopwise. Twenty years na mula noong binuksan nila 'yong store sa Alabang," she recalled.

In the early years of her business, Soliweg personally handled the whole process -- from planting the seedlings to shipping the produce.

Hands-on participation in the supply chain is the secret to business longevity, she said. She had her fair share of sleepless nights and groggy mornings, especially during bad weather when landslides closed all roads that connect the North to the South.

It appears now it was worth it.

She now owns two trucks, which deliver fresh produce straight from vegetable farms in La Trinidad, Benguet.

According to Soliweg, this stable income covered the school fees of her siblings and other relatives. She also managed to build a comfortable home for her family.

#TeresaSoliweg #Ibaloi #farmer #Shopwise

Aira Jane Abuan @aira

Jul 5

An Open Letter to the Man Who Is Responsible to Mr. Collen Akinchang's Demise

I don't know about you but I do hope that you have a facebook account and be able to read my message.

I have known him since my younger years. A simple man as he seemed but has a heart of gold. He maybe is considered as a person with disabilty (PWD) but he is blessed with kindness and a heart that is always willing to help. He lacks education , a minimun-wage laborer, who left his beloved hometown just to earn for a living not knowing that one day, he will be slaughtered in that very place whom he thinks will give him a good life. He lacks the capacity to express his thoughts with words but that was never a reason for him to just go around and solicit for help. He worked hard and does alot of hard labors just so he will not be a burden to his family.

I have seen the photos that was uploaded here in facebook and I am sure that you are a man who is very much in normal state and has all the capacity to work and earn for a living on your own. It's a shame that you opted to slaughter a man with disablity just to rob him that hard-earned money. Maybe if you could have just asked him properly, he would have had handed it to you because that's what he is. But what is done is done. I hope that small fortune that caused him his life is enough to suffice your everyday. I hope you are happy in what you did, I really do because it caused him his life.

You broke a lot of heart because of what you've done. I shed tears not because he is gone but because he doesn't deserve such kind of horrific death. A good man as he is. Life didn't treated him fairly you know, he didn't have an easy life, he fought hard to live his life normally as he could and it pains me that even in his death...he still experienced pain and hardship in your hand.

I know that he is now with the Lord, he can now claim the place that was promised to him. I hope that justice be served to him fairly, if not in this world of man but one day..In His time. Im not in the position to judge what you have done, instead...I will let GOD do the judging...

I have this burning question that I wanted to ask you in ilocano...Ay inmanay metlng jay inalam kinyana?

*The incident happened on July 01 2019 in Magsaysay Road, Baguio City
Credit: Up in the North

Aira Jane Abuan @aira

Jun 21

What do you think of the ingenuity of the Igorot people?

#Igorot