TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Province-led Agriculture and Fisheries Extension System (PAFES) in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) soft-launched its program recently at the Golden Berries Hotel and Convention Center here. The soft launch was attended by participants from different provinces and distinguished guests from the region.
Flordelisa G. Modero from the Office of the Provincial Planning and Development Officer welcomed the participants and acknowledged their presence, including that of Lilibeth L. Signey of the Cordillera office of the Bureau of Aquatic Resources, Engineer Danilo P. Daguio form the Cordillera Regional Field Office of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Charlie C. Sagudan, the Training Center Director for the Cordillera Regional Training Center of the Agriculture Training Institute. Balag-ey A. Claver from the DA-APCO Kalinga and the effort of Domingo A. Bakilan and his staff from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist were also recognized.
Bakilan, the Provincial Agriculturist and PAFES Project Management Group Chairperson for the region gave a warm welcome to all participants and shared his knowledge about the evolution of local governance in relation to the effect of the Mandanas-Garcia Ruling. He announced that Kalinga was the first province to receive the PAFES Fund from PAFES CAR RPMO, which amounted to P2.178M, due to the team’s hard work with the help of PLGU Kalinga.
Sagudan facilitated the presentation of the overview of the PAFES program, where he talked about the evolution of PAFES in granting projects and their implementation. The aim of PAFES is to strengthen the collaboration between DA, local government units, academe, and the private sector. He praised Kalinga for its commitment to helping Kalinga farmers and ended his overview with the famous Chinese adage “Small things come bigger things to come in the future.”
Daguio congratulated Kalinga for its readiness for the PAFES launching and commented on the effect of the Mandanas-Garcia Ruling on project implementation. He recognized that the success of the program is a concerted effort of provincial governments and national agencies.
He also commented on the effect of the Mandanas-Garcia Ruling on project implementation. Though some major functions have been devolved to provincial governments, the funding is not which affects the delivery and implementation of the projects.
Chris Donaal representing Vice Governor Jocel C. Baac assured that the vice governor’s office and the provincial legislative members fully support and commit to the program’s success. He is confident that Sangguniang Panlalawigan Hon. Antonio A. Bakilan will advocate for the development of all agricultural development in the province.
In support of PAFES, Governor James S. Edduba assured that he and the provincial government family commit to the success of this project. He is thankful to all the employees of the provincial government for their efforts and sacrifices. He acknowledged the great leadership of Bakilan and is assured that with his wisdom and dedication, the province’s agriculture will surely flourish.
The PAFES program serves as an extension hub that synchronizes agricultural plans and programs and orchestrates the various stakeholders’ activities. DA will co-plan, co-invest, co-implement, and co-monitor priority projects in the provinces, particularly as they embark on commodity specializations to maximize comparative advantage.
