Misamis Oriental Governor Peter M. Unabia during Monday's inaugural convocation on Monday, July 11, 2022. (Photo courtesy of MisOr PIO)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Newly-elected Misamis Oriental Governor Pedro M. Unabia vowed Monday to reintroduce “back to basics” agricultural practice to improve the province's food security and sustainability.
Agriculture development, he said, is an essential component of the government's poverty eradication program, which meant that every family can afford food on the table on a regular basis.
“Consultations with municipal agriculturists are a priority, in line with the thrusts of PBBM (President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) about food security and food sustainability,” Unabia said during the inaugural convocation ceremony Monday.
One of the interventions being looked into, the governor said, is the mainstreaming of backyard gardening, especially that it showed a promise in terms of sustainability in the last two years of the pandemic.
“They said, as per (former) Gov. Bambi (now Misamis Oriental 2nd District Rep. Yevgeny Vincente Emano), that our poverty incidence was 18.6 percent in 2019; but because of the pandemic, poverty incidence increased to 22 percent,” Unabia said.
As of 2020, the Philippine Statistics Authority recorded a population of 956,900.
Department of Agriculture–Northern Mindanao (DA-10) Director Carlene Collado assured they will back the governor's agricultural programs for the province.
“The DA is always supportive of Misamis Oriental. The challenge is for the LGUs (local government units) to actively propose for projects needed in, and appropriate to their location,” Collado said.
Unabia and key provincial officials have met with DA-10 officials last week to streamline different projects. (PNA)
