LA PAZ, Tarlac ? A tune from the Broadway hit, ?Les Miserables,? may seem too melancholic a serenade for celebrating farmers, but a rendition by international artist Lea Salonga will always be appreciated anywhere in the world.

Salonga belted out ?On My Own,? over a public address system in Barangay (village) Lomboy on Friday, as goodwill ambassador for the UN?s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Four villages had just concluded a year-long project funded by the European Union and overseen by FAO and the Department of Agriculture.

Salonga said the farmers were the country?s real heroes. Jo Martinez-Clemente, Inquirer Central Luzon, with a report from Russell Arador