From a struggling farm worker to a respected cooperative manager, Merly Canonigo’s journey in the fields of Sta. Cruz, Rosario, Agusan del Sur, is being celebrated as a story of perseverance and community upliftment.

The 59-year-old widow and mother began working in 1998 with the Rosario Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multipurpose Cooperative (RARBEMCO).

Her fortunes, and those of the other farmers, began to change in 2002 when the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) awarded them ownership of their long-tended lands through the Certificate of Land Ownership Award.

Empowered by DAR’s ongoing support for agrarian reform beneficiaries, Canonigo’s leadership flourished. In 2011, despite initial doubts from some members, she rose to become RARBEMCO’s manager.

“There were times I thought of giving up, but my determination was stronger than my exhaustion,” Canonigo recalled, reflecting on years marked by debts, delays and droughts.

With her persistence and guidance from the DAR on enterprise development, the cooperative’s financial health turned around. By 2024, RARBEMCO’s revenues reached P3.4 million, marking a full recovery from the economic impact of the pandemic.

She maintained that her greatest achievement is not measured in profit, but in the renewed confidence of farmers, the rise of women leaders and the improved security of families in the community.

Canonigo, who now owns a modest home and manages a small store and piggery, has also become a respected community leader for more than two decades.

“Running a cooperative isn’t easy,” Canonigo said, “but when we work together, nothing is impossible.”

DAR officials cited that Canonigo’s story is a testament to the power of perseverance and the transformation possible when determination meets empowerment.