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DAR-7 backs Cebu’s countryside development push

By Carlo Lorenciana

May 21, 2021, 2:54 pm

 

CEBU CITY – The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Central Visayas (DAR-7) has expressed intent to support the Enhanced Countryside Development (ECD) program of the Cebu provincial government.

DAR-7 regional director Resty Osias lauded the ECD program of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and expressed the possibility of incorporating DAR’s program for farmers into the Capitol’s initiative for agricultural development.

“Looking at the bigger picture, I see the possibility of tying up with the provincial government and using the expertise of the DA (Department of Agriculture),” Osias said in a statement Friday.

“I realized that we have the lands. The countryside development can proceed from the lands that we are giving to our farmers. Right now, we are distributing around 8,000 plus titles encompassing more or less 5,000 hectares. We have the lands and we can probably help the province if these lands are cultivated,” the DAR official said.

In an earlier meeting, Garcia presented to Osias the economic-revival initiatives of the provincial government here, including the ECD, the SUGBUsog food security program, and the micro-business aid program Sugbo Negosyo.

Osias and DA-7 regional director Salvador Diputado have lauded these initiatives, led by Garcia, which have been implemented to help restore the livelihoods of communities and economies amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis.

Garcia was delighted to know that government agencies have taken notice of the importance of these programs.

DAR’s Oasis was given a copy of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the provincial government and state-run banks on the ECD so he can look into how the agency can play into the program.

“I’m going to study this memorandum of agreement that has been given to me and I’ll be looking where or how we can mirror this. Papaano naming maipapasok yung aming opisina dito, 'yung mga visions ng opisina namin (How can we enter the visions of our office) so that we can enter the same program with the provincial government on the part of DAR,” he said.

He added that he is going to forward the MOA to DAR Secretary John Castriciones, who is scheduled to visit Cebu next month, for the possible signing of a cooperation agreement between the agency and the Capitol.

Last March 5, the Capitol officially launched the ECD, an agriculture development program to ensure the island’s food security and to help farmers and fisherfolk through loans from its partner banks.

Garcia signed a MOA with the Land Bank of the Philippines, the Development Bank of the Philippines, and the Philippine Veterans Bank to implement the program. The three banks have committed at least PHP20 billion for ECD loans to qualified farmers.

City and municipal agriculture officers around the island have been tasked to identify farmers’ and fishers’ groups interested in availing themselves of the program.

The provincial government will step in to link farmers and fisherfolk to feed producers and food manufacturers interested in buying their products at reasonable prices.

ECD is the Capitol’s thrust towards the development of the agriculture sector.

As early as June 2020, Garcia announced plans to refocus resources from urban development to the development of Cebu’s countryside as a response to the insufficient food supply, a problem that arose at the height of the pandemic. (PNA)

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