“As agents of the service, you should really work for the people because this is a program that needs immediate action,” said Assistant Secretary Lerey Panes, SAAD Program Director during the 1st quarterly assessment of Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) held at the Department of Agriculture, Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City last April 18-19, 2017.
The activity aims to provide directions on how to properly implement the program in the different provinces included in the 10 poorest provinces. It was attended by the regional focal persons, regional planning budget officers, and provincial coordinators of regions Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Negros Island Region (NIR), Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, SOCCSKSARGEN and Zamboanga Peninsula.
Program Director Lerey Panes and DA Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol graced the activity. Panes reminded all staff of SAAD that the moment they get out from the venue, they have something to implement in their areas with practical ways and solutions.
On the other hand, Piñol reminded the participants to make sure that the program is being effectively implemented. He told the audience to remember that the barometer of the success of the program is poverty incidence reduction; that they should not limit themselves to the funding of SAAD projects alone, instead, use other parallel projects they could attach to SAAD as part of the program; and, urged them to think outside of the box and to evolve ideas and suggestions to improve operations.
After that, the National Program Management Office presented the SAAD’s general implementing guidelines. This was followed by the presentation of quarterly reports of the different regions.
The Cordillera Office of the Department of Agriculture through Regional Technical Director for Operations Danilo P. Daguio, SAAD focal person, presented the accomplishments,plans, and status of SAAD in Apayao and had discussions with the advisory committee and ASec Panes.
After the presentations of the different regions, a forum followed to iron out issues and concerns relative to the implementation of the project.
By Leny Mendoza
