(PAGASA 24-HOUR PUBLIC WEATHER FORECAST as of Wednesday, 27 March 2024) Easterlies affecting the eastern section of the country. Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur will experience Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms due to Easterlies / Localized Thunderstorms. Possible flash floods or landslides during severe thunderstorms.


PIA News Service - Monday, November 10, 2008

Right: BB/BC Focal Person RTD Eliseo Tila addresses during the orientation training in San Francisco, ADS. Left: AMAD OIC Servilla Balaan spearheads the activity.

DA-AMAD conducts orientation training on BB/BC project

San Francisco, AGUSAN DEL SUR – To ensure success and sustainability of Barangay Bagsakan and Bagsakan Center (BB/BC) Projects in Caraga Region, the Agribusiness Marketing and Assistance Division (AMAD) of the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Unit 13 (DA RFU 13) conducted comprehensive orientation training last October 29-30, 2008.

The two day orientation training was held at Diwata Training Center, San Francisco, Agusan del Sur participated by BB/BC operators and soon to be operators from different identified areas in the region

In his message Regional Technical Director for Operations Eliseo T. Tila, the Bagsakan focal person for Caraga stressed the importance of cooperation and determination in order for the project to succeed.

To fully understand the project, Rey Frias, technical staff of AMAD talked about the concepts and objectives of the Barangay Bagsakan and Bagsakan Centers which serves as support for poverty reduction and hunger mitigation program of the present administration.

BB/BC is a barangay-based food depot and distribution system offering affordable, safe and quality food products like meat, poultry, fish, vegetables and fruits, directly links farmers and fisherfolk producers to the consumers and community participated retail food distribution system.

This project is jointly undertaken by the local government unit (LGU) who will provide the space/land, building and operating capital and designate a recipient to operate the BB/BC and DA who will provide the technical assistance during the pre-operation and actual operation, links suppliers and provides Cold Storage Facility, Plastic Crates and other facilities needed for the project

Food handling, processing and storage was comprehensively tackled during the seminar, on fishery concerns it was delivered by Esmaelita Trimidal and Emiliana Nipas of Surigao del Sur Provincial Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Office; for meat by Dr. Bernadeth Montenegro, Senior Meat Control Officer of National Meat Inspection Service Caraga and about fruits and vegetables tackled by Engr. Alfredo PeƱafiel, technical staff of Regional Agriculture Engineering Division.

To ensure smooth business operation, Marilou Gruyal of AMAD shared about the business organization and management while Sherwin Luminarias talked about monitoring of the operation.

On the other hand, Britta Paulin, Budget Section Staff of DA-RFU 13 shared her expertise on bookkeeping to have a unified form of financial report as required to be submitted by all operators to AMAD.

Participants have very lively discussions during the open forum which OIC Servilla D. Balaan of AMAD said that the seminar also serves as the venue for participants to share each others experiences on the day to day operations of the project to serve as guide.

The orientation training also helps build camaraderie among participants during fellowship night ably coordinated by Dulby Rose Arena and Rebecah Amanio, AMAD staff.

To date, a total of eight (8) Barangay Bagsakan has been operational such as in Pagatpatan, Butuan City operated by Balangayan Butuan Cooperative; Sibagat, Agusan del Sur operated by Sibagat Barrionomics Agro-Industrial Ventures; Brgy. Marcelina, Bayugan City operated by the Barangay Council; Mangagoy, Bislig City operated by Rural Improvement Club Federation; Brgy. Lapinigan, San Francisco, Agusan del Sur operated by the Barangay Council; Brgy. San Roque, Bislig City operated by San Roque Farmers and Displaced Workers Multipurpose Cooperative; Lumbocan, Butuan City operated by Lumbocan Homeowners Association and Brgy. Manapa, Buenavista, Agusan del Norte operated by the Barangay Council.

Soon to open this month are the following BB sites: Diatagon, Surigao del Sur; Poblacion Barobo, Surigao del Sur; Mainit, Surigao del Norte; Gamut, Tago, Surigao del Sur; Bungtod, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur and Agsam, Lanuza, Surigao del Sur.

Three areas has been identified for Bagsakan Centers and soon to open next month namely Brgy. Cancohoy, Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte; San Francisco, Agusan del Sur and Aras-asan, Cagwait, Surigao del Sur.

Bagsakan Center is much larger in terms of stock volume and needs bigger cold storage facility than Barangay Bagsakan. (Aurell P. Arais/RAFID-Caraga)


Ravelo wins 18th Info Quiz

San Miguel, SURIGAO DEL SUR (November 10) – The local government unit (LGU) of the interior municipality of San Miguel, Surigao del Sur conducted the 18th Municipal Info Quiz with a theme ‘Government’s duty to inform the people has the right to know’, at San Miguel National Comprehensive National High School (SMNCHS)-Sagbayan Annex on October 7, 2008, in this town.

This year’s activity was participated by six different secondary schools within the municipality wherein each school has two representatives.

Ulymae Ravelo of SMNCHS-Main Campus was proclaimed champion and received a cash prize of P500.00, a medallion donated by Governor Vicente T. Pimentel, Jr., and a gold medal from the LGU.

Meanwhile, Genalyn Porras of SMNCHS-San Roque Annex grabbed first runner-up and received a cash prize of P400.00, a medallion and a silver medal while Jelyn Tabang, also a student of SMNCHS-Main Campus was declared 2nd runner-up and received a cash prize of P300.00, a medallion and a bronze medal.

This annual activity was spearheaded by the Community Development Information Council (CDIC) in coordination with the Local Government Unit of San Miguel and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA)-Surigao del Sur Information Center, aimed to foster awareness among the students on the smoldering issues, programs of the government and other important facts and statistics. (Nida Grace B. Tranquilan, PIA-Surigao del Sur)