BAGUIO CITY – The selection process for identifying prospective beneficiaries for Phase 2 of the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera (DA-CAR) Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) is set to prioritize additional areas in the region that will benefit from various intervention projects of the program.
During the 2022 SAAD program assessment activity in La Union early this year, DA-CAR Regional Executive Director Cameron Odsey explained that in terms of area, the priority should be the maintenance of barangays instead of municipalities where Farmers’ Cooperative Associations (FCAs) are located.
“Aside from identifying specific barangays classified as belonging to the 5th and 6th class area beneficiaries, we should also identify municipalities that are receptive to government programs and projects like SAAD. Some municipalities may have lesser barangays while others may have more, but what is important is that we concentrate on barangays,” Odsey said.
The expansion of the SAAD Phase 2 program now includes the provinces of Abra, Benguet, and Ifugao. While identified areas in Apayao, Kalinga, and Mountain Province that have not received intervention projects have been considered based on their eligibility under the selection process.
The criteria for the selection of barangays should be among the top 5 barangays with the highest poverty incidence based on CBMS; insufficient assistance for agriculture-related livelihood programs or projects from DA, other national government agencies, local governments, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs); and the willingness of the barangay council to support the program.
The selection of target municipalities will be based mainly on the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) 2018 Poverty Incidence data and Income Classification of municipalities as per Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Order 23-08. This is consistent with the National Budget Call for 2023 (DBM National Budget memorandum142, s. 2022), which prioritizes 5th and 6th class municipalities, and the top one-third of the municipalities with the highest poverty incidence.
Selection of areas under Phase 2 of the SAAD program identified by the local governments after a series of community consultations, and validated by DA-CAR recognized 25 areas in Abra, two areas each in Apayao and Kalinga, three areas each in Benguet and Ifugao, and six areas in the Mountain Province for a total of 41 areas that will benefit from the various intervention projects of the program.
“It’s not as if we are disenfranchising them, but for these projects where performance is important, we should make sure that we prioritize performance in the process selection. In the selection of barangays, we should define the term relatively high incidence of poverty based on the PSA 2018 report, including the top 3 percent barangays identified by the municipality,” the Director added.