KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato Province — Kidapawan’s city government showcased their fruit harvest at the Timpupo Festival, or “Kasadya sa Timpupo 2024,” a 1.5-kilometer fruit stretch from Corner Datu Icdang Street to Cathedral, attracting locals and tourists.
The Timpupo Festival, which ran from August 10-18, offered a vibrant lineup of activities celebrating the rich culture and abundant harvest of the city, such as the “Eat-All-You-Can sa Dalan,” the centerpiece of the weeklong celebration of the city’s 77th foundation anniversary.
Kidapawan City is known for being a major producer of fruits like durian, rambutan, lanzones, mangosteen, and marang in the Soccsksargen region and Mindanao.
Mayor Jose Paolo M. Evangelista also commended the government agencies, people’s organizations, and the private sector for joining him in the civic-military and fruit float parade.
“We didn’t expect to have such a bountiful harvest this year. We allotted ₱1.7 million to buy fruits from our local farmers to showcase at this event,” Evangelista pointed out.
The “buy-back” project is one of Evangelista’s flagship programs, which aims to support local farmers by having the city government purchase their fruit harvests at fair prices.
The Kidapawan city government distributes produce at low prices to local associations and people’s organizations, which then sell it to the public at a reasonable market price.
According to Evangelista, the initiative aims to eliminate the “exploitative” nature of some traders who take advantage of farmers by buying their produce at cheaper prices.
Vicente Sotto III, the former Senate president, and Atty. Aileen Lourdes Lizada, the Senior Commissioner of the Civil Service Commission, also graced the culmination program, along with other city officials.
The weeklong celebration also presented other activities, including a pyro-musical display, cultural heritage gallery-walk, agri-trade fair, food fiesta, bazaar sa suroyan, fruit carving design contest, visual arts workshop, and concerts.
Dubbed the “city of fruits and highland springs,” Kidapawan is also known for having the nearest Mt. Apo trail, with guides and porters who are DOT-accredited and well-trained individuals based on industry standards.
The city also offers nature immersion with ATI (Agricultural Training Institute) and DOT-accredited farm sites for tourists who bask in the joy of agricultural tourism.
Aside from being known for its fruits, Evangelista also envisions the city to become “food sufficient,” encouraging residents to plant not only fruit trees but also vegetables and other crops.
The local government is also venturing into aquaculture, specifically tilapia production, as a way of supporting its residents.
“Fruits are seasonal. What happens the rest of the year? Internally, we want to become food-sufficient. We encourage the farmers to plant and maintain their ponds,” he said.
Evangelista said that his administration fully supports the city’s young farmers and entrepreneurs.
For example, they organized young beekeepers, seeing the importance of bee farming for the environment and serving as an “entry point” to reach young people and encourage them to venture into agriculture.
Through its City Agriculturist Office, the local government also provides technical assistance to different organizations and institutions in the city, such as the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) Kidapawan campus.
Under Evangelista’s turf, they are also implementing the “Canopy ’25 Forest Growing” project, which aims to plant 2.5 million trees by Feb. 2025.
He said that in just two years they have already planted 1.8 million trees under the project, which aims to protect the environment, especially water sources and watershed areas, and mitigate the effects of climate change.
“Let’s not forget our responsibility to our environment. We have a moral responsibility to the place we live in. Urbanization is useless without sustainable development,” Evangelista conveyed. (Genory Vanz Alfasain/DOT 12)
