TADIAN, Mountain Province – The Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) recently honored former Mountain Province State Polytechnic College (MPSPC) and Apayao State College (ASC) president Dr. Nieves A. Dacyon during the organization’s 55th founding anniversary held last July 27, 2022 at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City.
Dacyon was among the honorees during the occasion, especially for her distinct and notable achievements that include the major innovations borne out of the research centers with the corresponding research and development buildings and support facilities for both food and biodiversity that she established in her stint as college president of both institutions.
The PASUC recognition to the performing honorees was actually delayed for 2 years because of the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented the convening of the gathering for this purpose.
Dacyon expressed her sincerest gratitude to all concerned stakeholders who individually and collectively contributed in the successful rollout of the innovations that she was able to introduce in the State-run higher education institutions where she was assigned to head, particularly the MPSPC and ASC.
She claimed that the concerned stakeholders were able to display the culture of convergence among agencies and entities in making the projects successful right from being rolled out, particularly the Complimentary Food Production (CFP)Technologies in the Region.
Among the concerned stakeholders which she recognized include the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) central office, DOST-CAR through former regional director Julius Ceasar Sicat, incumbent DST-CAR regional director Dr. Nancy Bantog and the officialdom of Apayao, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the budget; the internal stakeholders who composed the project implementing arms, the planning and development officer Arch. Maria Ionica Naz with her support groups, Engr. Jessie Nalicao and Engr. Aldrin Ngoaban and their technical assistants, the CFP in charge for research and development Ms. Lailanie Parugrug and her team, Mr. Romy Rigates, the CFP in charge for equipment operations; Dr. Ronald Ocampo and chief administrative officer, Ms. Brenda U. Fernando and their respective sectors, the Office of the President team headed by Reynaldo Gayo, Jr., all the ASC stakeholders and those partners who had been promoting and supporting the Bigas-Balatong products for the malnourished children.
The CFP project was initiated by the DOST with the aim of reducing the prevalence of malnourished children in the country through the introduction of affordable and nutritious complimentary foods, such as instant baby food and snack food, using rice blended with mongo and sesame by providing the appropriate technologies which were developed by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the agency.
The said project was implemented in Luna, Apayao through a partnership with ASC with the support of the Apayao Congressional District Office, Apayao provincial government and the CHED.
Per report from the R&D in charge Ms. Parugrug, the CFP facility located at Payanan, San Gregorio, Luna, Apayao started producing complementary foods on a commercial scale last January 18, 2016.
Complementary foods are non-breast milk foods or nutritive liquids that are given to young children that are readily consumed and digested by the young child. This provides additional nutrition to meet all the growing child’s needs.
The roll out of the complementary food products in the regions was conceived in 2013 and was adopted by ASC to roll out the 3 complementary food products developed by the FNRI. The project is a collaborative activity of the DOST and the ASC.
DOST provided for the equipment and technology while ASC was in charge of the production and rolled out as the adaptor of the project. The implementation of the project is under the supervision of DOST-CAR Nutrition Research Institute.
The said project generally aims to roll out the 3 FNRI developed complimentary food technology. Specifically, it aims to introduce affordable and nutritious complementary foods, instant baby foods and snack food using rice blended with mongo or sesame by providing the appropriate technologies.
The other objectives of the project is to facilitate the technology adoption and commercialization of 3 FNRI-developed complimentary food technologies namely rice-mongo curls, rice-mongo instant baby food blend and rice-mongo sesame baby food blend, especially in areas where technology is not widely available; and to strengthen the partnership among DOST, LGUs, private sector and other institutions in the implementation of the project in 5 regions.
The ASC as the project implementer and adopter of the technology in Luzon is mandated to roll out the 3 complementary food products to work alongside with 4 other recipients nationwide. Other recipients of the project include the Brookside Kitchen Operator in Palawan; Surigao del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay and Sultan Kudarat Province.
The provision of safe and affordable complimentary food nationwide is expected to lower the incidents of malnutrition in the country.
Dacyon spearheaded the establishment of the facility and sought the assistance of the national government through the DBM, Regional Development Council (RDC) and the CHED to finance the construction of the building.
To date the CFP facility is producing the required complimentary food products. The same products now supply the needs of the rural health unit of Luna, Apayao for their feeding programs and with their feeding program project with DOST-Pinoy.
