She sat comfortably in a wooden stool inside her house. She looked relaxed and contented with her life. She smiled and laughed in between her stories. She never ran out of interesting facts to talk about. As the adage goes, “Life begins at 40”, for this 41-year old woman it holds true. For her, life is just starting and she is exploring new things. She is optimistic and determined that more opportunities will come her way. She is Juliet Atiwon a native of Ifugao province.
Looking back, when Juliet left her province to visit her relatives in a wedding at Didipio, she was enchanted by the scenic beauty of the valley. After a while, she decided to migrate to the place and there she met her husband Peter.
Now, she is a resident of Dudusna Centro and a doting mother of three boys. Her eldest son is 13, second is 12 (“PJ” was named after former Climax Exploration Manager and Geologist Paul Joyce) and the youngest is six years old.
She recalled that during her younger years she almost missed the chance of completing her college education. Her course was Agricultural Education at the Ifugao State College. She was in fourth year college when she decided to stop schooling and work in Malaysia for two years. Due to age and financial factors, when she returned home she was unable to continue her studies. She also became busy tending to her children.
In 1996, Juliet decided to apply as a utility worker at Climax-Arimco Mining Corp. (now OceanaGold Philippines) to augment their family income. Having reached college level, she was considered overqualified for the position and was discouraged by the geologists to pursue her application.
In 1997, she found out that the Company granted scholarships and provided educational support to the community. She applied for the scholarship and went back to Ifugao State University.
After a year, she graduated and acquired an Agricultural Education diploma. It was an accomplishment that fulfilled her dream in life of getting her degree. “Akala ko noon hindi ko na matatapos ang aking pag-aaral pero nakapagaral pa ako. Ngayon, masaya ako at naka-graduate ako at utang na loob ko sa kumpanya ang lahat ng ito. “Before, I thought that I will never finish my tudies. But then I was able to study. Now, I’m happy that I graduated and I owe everything to the company,” she acclaimed.
In 1998, Juliet served the Didipio community by teaching pupils in the Didipio Elementary School. It lasted for three years. She decided to stop because she focused in taking care of her children.
She disclosed that during those years, it was difficult to go to the towns and even in the adjacent barangays during inter-town school events and competitions. It took them four to five hours and even a day or so (under adverse weather conditions) to reach the town. Sometimes, they were lucky enough to take a ride in a truck which they called “weapon”.
She revealed that when OceanaGold started the Didipio Project, the roads improved dramatically which greatly reduced travel time of the locals and visitors in the area. Now, they are not exhausted by long and tiring hikes to transport their agricultural products and other locallyproduced goods. Before, rotting tomatoes and other vegetables were a predicament of the local farmers.
The Didipio community and neighboring barangays were also provided with health and medical assistance. Since, the barangay is far from the town proper, OceanaGold provides vehicles during emergencies.
Employment opportunities also flooded the community. There are several jobs generated for Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino provinces. This is not only beneficial for the people but for the whole region as well. Juliet attested to that since her husband is one among the many locals employed by OceanaGold. Her husband has been working with the company since late 90’s during the exploration period.
People are also becoming computer literate and their communication skills are now more enhanced.
Juliet extended her sincerest words of gratitude to OceanaGold. She said that their neighborhood were also delighted and thankful to the company for bringing good opportunities in their province that improved their living conditions
As for now, Juliet is raising chickens in their backyard for their consumption. She raises them with tender loving care. During rainy days and under bad weather conditions, she gathers and puts all the chicks and chickens inside the cage to keep them safe and warm. She also plans to sell chickens and to raise native eggs.No matter how difficult life may be, Juliet still believes that hard work pays off. With strong conviction, she shared that it is nice to enjoy things that you earned through labor because things that are easy to get are easy to loose.
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