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)