Breaking News: PNoy to meet farmers, fishers, POs in Davao today

By Jerome Carlo R. Paunan

Monday 14th of May 2012

QUEZON CITY, May 14 (PIA) -- President Benigno S. Aquino III is set to meet today some 1,000 farmers, fishers, indigenous peoples, and local government officials as he keynotes People’s Organizations (POs) Congress in Davao City as part of the nationwide Farmers’ and Fisherfolk’s Month celebration this May.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala, who will join President Aquino in Davao, said in a statement that the participants are beneficiaries of the Department of Agriculture’s Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP) under its Community Fund for Agricultural Development (CFAD) component. "They have availed of MRDP funds to bankroll their respective livelihood projects like food production, aquaculture, food processing, and small-scale rural infrastructure," Alcala said.

MRDP is jointly funded by the Philippine government, the World Bank, and DA, with counterpart from beneficiary LGUs. The program is implemented in 1,929 barangays, and 22 municipalities in 26 provinces in Mindanao.

Simultaneously, at the DA central office in Quezon City, DA family officials and employees, led by Undersecretaries Antonio Fleta and Joel Rudinas, will start week-long festivities with the opening of agri-aqua fair, exhibits, tiangge, and cooking demonstrations.

The theme for this year’s Farmers’ and Fisherfolk’s Month celebration is "Sapat na pagkain, Sama-sama nating kamtin (We will have enough food) !"

Alcala said the theme for this year’s celebration is apt and timely as the DA is frontloading its resources and focusing efforts to attain self-sufficiency in rice and major staples by end of 2013.

“Let us continue to pay tribute to the country’s farmers and fisherfolk, and at the same time provide them sustained assistance so we could attain national food sufficiency and security,” the DA chief said.

“Kaya naman, sa pagdiriwang ng buwan ng mga magsasaka at mangingisda, samahan at bigyan natin ng kaukulang tulong at ayuda upang makamit natin ang pambansang kasapatan sa bigas at iba pang pangunahing pagkain sa katapusan ng taong 2013,” Alcala added (In this nationwide observance, we would like to give the right assistance to our farmers and fisherfolk to empower them in helping the country achieve food self-sufficiency by 2013.)

As part of the celebration, Undersecretary Rudinas said a thanksgiving mass in honor of San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of peasants, will be held May 15, 9:00 a.m. at the DA central office compound.

On May 16, a national Dairy Congress will be held in Baguio City, spearheaded by the DA’s National Dairy Authority in partnership with the Dairy Confederation of the Philippines.

On May 17, the DA will host a twin event — a Farmers’ and Fisherfolk’s Forum, and a DA-DAR-DENR-DILG National Convergence Initiative Summit — at the BSWM conventional hall, Visayas Ave., Quezon City.

The DA’s Agricultural Training Institute will celebrate its 60th anniversary on May 22, and at the same spearhead an annual convention of hundreds of 4-H Clubs in the country.

On May 23, the DA’s Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), based in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, observes its 34th anniversary. PhilMech is formerly known as Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension and before that as NAPHIRE.

Alcala will grace several of the activities of the Farmers’ and Fisherfolk’s Month celebration, and at the same time continue to visit and dialogue with farmers, fisherfolks, and local government officials and agri-fishery industry stakeholders. For the rest of the month of May, he is set to visit Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley, Cavite, Quezon, Nueva Ecija, Zamboanga Sibugay, Biliran, and Eastern Samar. (DA/RJB/JCP-PIA NCR)