BoholAnalysis

The town of Baclayon in Bohol is famous in the local tourism industry as the home of one of the Philippine’s oldest churches. Both foreign and local tourists stop at its age-old church and the nearby museum that showcase the rich culture and history of the Boholano as a people. Little do they know that a few kilometers from this tourist attraction lies a community whose dream of having safe and accessible potable water has been so elusive in the past years. The sitio of Mangool is part of the rural barangay of San Isidro, located 4 kilometers from the town center. The sitio sits on top of a hill 90 meters above sea level and is the home to 112 residents. It is only accessible through a rough access road that gets very muddy and slippery during rainy days. Livelihood opportunities were so scarce in the sitio with farming as an only option. But farming did not bring in the profits, primarily because crops were dependent on rain and whatever was left of the limited water source.