DA, AgNor LGU embrace PAFES
The provincial government of Agusan del Norte is now on its journey to take the wheel of the agriculture and fishery sector towards development.
This is after the
Province-led Agriculture and Fisheries Extension System (PAFES) was formally
launched last July 19, 2021, with Agusan del Norte as the pilot province for
Caraga Region.
Governor Dale Corvera
accepted the challenge to be a model province among the provinces in the region
as part of the transition period before the full implementation of the devolution
process of the agricultural extension program to the local government unit
starting 2022.
As part of the pilot
phase, DA-Caraga, the provincial local government unit (PLGU) of government,
academe, private sector, and other agricultural stakeholders inked the
Memorandum of Agreement to complement each other particularly on technical and
funding support in the implementation of proposed co-financing projects
identified by the province.
“This is a timely
development as we in the province is at the height of the implementation of our
provincial initiative, the Agusan-UP, aiming to level up agricultural and
fishery sector by increasing production and establishing processing centers in
the province,” Governor Corvera said.
“I enjoined every
stakeholder to unite and walked together in propelling the agriculture and
fisheries sector towards a resilient and food-secure Philippines with
prosperous farmers and fisherfolks” said Undersecretary for Operations Ariel T.
Cayanan of the Department of Agriculture who virtually graced the momentous
event.
Through PAFES, LGU will be
at the center in delivering extension services to the farmers such as the
conduct of technology training, provision of farm machinery, production and
infrastructure support, downstream researches, and others.
“With PAFES, LGU will now
be the center of mobilizing agricultural projects and programs but still with
support from the DA, and its attached bureaus and agencies, academe, local
policymakers, and private sector,” Rebecca Reyes Atega, Regional Technical
Director for Operations of DA-Caraga said.
In setting the direction,
the agricultural program from the national, regional to local levels will be
harmonized through the Collaborative Agriculture and Fisheries Extension
Program (CAFEP) integrated into the Provincial Commodity Investment Plan
(PCIP).
PAFES is an initiative of
DA under the leadership of Secretary William Dar with his One DA Reform Agenda.
this is timely for the the full implementation of the Mandanas and Garcia
Ruling that will significantly boosts the financial capabilities of LGUs to implement
agricultural programs and projects.
The 2018 Supreme Court
ruling, on the petitions of Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas and former Bataan
Gov. Enrique Garcia Jr., stated that the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share
of LGUs should be coming from all national taxes collected and not just from
the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). (Aurellius Arais, DA13-RAFIS/PIA Agusan
del Norte)
