Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol visited the
distant town of Maitum in Sarangani on October 23 to personally check on the
status of the province’s upland rice development project.
The said project is one of the livelihood interventions
funded under the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) of the
Department of Agriculture (DA).
“I am so happy that you have implemented this
project successfully,” the secretary said adding that he found an efficient
project implementing partner in the person of Governor Steve Chiongbian-Solon.
He lauded Governor Solon’s hands-on
management in the SAAD implementation which he said, other recipient provinces
must look into for them to also competently implement the same project in their
area.
Looking at the success of the upland rice
project in the province, Secretary Manny vowed to fully support the programs of
the provincial government.
At the event tagged as Thanksgiving Day, the
secretary turned-over the remaining P75-M check to Sarangani Provincial Local Government
Unit. Under SAAD, each province-beneficiary was earmarked with P100-M.
“We will be back to check whether our
interventions yield positive results because SAAD is designed to reduce the
escalating poverty incidence rates in the top ten poorest provinces in the
country,” the secretary said.
Knowing the huge potentials of upland rice,
the secretary vowed to pour in additional interventions such as the seven
single-pass rice mills with packing machines which will be distributed in the
provinces seven towns.
He will also provide 24 native pigs for the
establishment of a multiplier farm in Maitum.
Sec. Piñol also urged the provincial
officials to propose for the construction of rice and corn centers which each
costs 60-M. “I am willing to lend you a working capital for your operations,”
the secretary said.
Caption: Secretary Emmanuel Pinol hands-over the check amounting to P75-Million to Governor Steve Solon and local officials of Sarangani to complete the fund transfer for the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD).
