Mindanao Daily 11 NEWS
wednesday | november 13, 2013
northmin . westmin . caraga . davao Your Mindanao-wide Community Newspaper
Sen. Villar to agri sector: Prepare, be globally competitive for AEC By Cheng Ordonez Executive Editor
CAGAYAN de Oro––The attainment of self-sufficiency in food production and security and increased farmers’ and fisherfolk’s incomes hinges on research and development, which play a key role in enhancing competitiveness, Senator Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, said. Senator Villar, who graced the Makina Saka – Mindanao 2013, Tuesday, at the Marco Hotel in Barangay Cugman here, said the aim of the Makina Saka, which showcases the latest agricultural machineries and equipment available in the country to help reduce labor in field work while lowering production and post-harvest losses, will facilitate the achievement of the country’s self-sufficiency and food security goals. “Besides attaining our selfsufficiency and food security
Classes...
goals, our most important goal is, of course, to increase the income of our farmers and to improve the global competitiveness of our agricultural sector, particularly with our looming entry into the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015,” Sen. Villar said. Sen. Villar said “ASEAN is moving towards standardizing practices and food safety systems such as adaptation of Good Agriculture Practices, Good Aquaculture Practices, Good Animal Husbandry Practices, Good Hygiene Practices, Good Manufacturing Practices and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point or HACCP-based systems, among others.” “This is why, as a senator and chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, I am monitoring and ensuring the implementation of the Agricultural and Fishery Modernization Act or AFMA or Republic Act 8435,” Villar said.
AFMA, according to Sen. Villar, calls for the allocation of at least P20 billion a year for agriculture modernization-related programs and projects. “And yet date shown to me cite that the Philippines lags behind its regional neighbors in the farm mechanization aspect—a far fifth placer to Japan, South Korea, China and Thailand,” she said. Sen. Villar revealed that the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) for Republic Act 10601 or the Agriculture and Fisheries Mechanization Law or AFMECH are now drafted and up for finalization. Makina Saka - Mindanao 2013 has also been made as a venue for the holding of a public consultation on the IRR of the AFMECH law. Villar said the newly signed AFMECH will prmote the development and adaptation of modern, appropriate, cost-effective and environmentally safe agricul-
to give students and s cho ol of f icials an ample time to go home and make appropriate pre p ar at i ons to s e c u re t heir l ives and prop erties. Mo n s a n t o s a i d t h a t t he CDR R MC has cont inua l ly monitore d t he movement of tropical
d e p r e s s i o n “ Z o r a i d a” after Super howler “ Yo l a n d a” l e f t N o r t h ern Mindanao Friday evening last week. He said that the CDRRMC reported a z e ro c a s u a lt y a s s t or m s i g n a l n o . 1 Yo l a n d a battered Northern Mindanao last week. CD
Army...
will be tested during the next 60 days. I’m not talking here of the LGU action, or those by line agencies from Manila and nearby regions. Talk of rehabilitation as a total approach to development in the typhoonaffected areas. Let’s see what challenges lie ahead for us in
tural and fisheries machinery and equipment to enhance farm productivity and efficiency. The Mindanao-wide Makina Saka Agri Machinery Roadshow converges from Nov. 12 to 15, 2013, participants from the different regions in Mindanao under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and National Rice Program. Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, known to be the “Father of Agricultural Modernization,” graced the event and told hundreds of participants that some technologies offered in the roadshow are able to provide not only daytime, but 24-hour harvesting, enabling farmers to save crops, fast track production and earn more, which is the primary purpose of the government in paving the way for technology to go the farmers’ farming ways. The road show exhibits a wide array of the latest emerging agrimachinery and equipment, par-
ticularly for rice which could be availed by the farmers from DA. It also includes machinery exhibition and actual demonstration of rice mechanization facilities, as well as conduct seminar, congress and conference, which are all geared towards the adoption of farmers of the various machinery and equipment being presented at the roadshow. Adoptation of the technology is seen to reduce labor in farm work and minimize production and post-harvest losses, which will contribute in attaining the heretofore twin goals of the department: Food security and self-sufficiency. Some 700 participants, ranging from farmer-leaders, and local government representatives, agricultural technicians, agricultural and fishery councils members and officials, and other stakeholders for agri-development, are expected to converge in the four-day agri event.
wherever they will be deployed. He said that the troops are now consolidated at the Headquarters 4th Infantry Division ready to be deployed once the C-130 cargo plane from the air force will
be available to transport them. The 4ID through its Civil Military Operations Battalion is also accepting donations from the locals who wish to donate goods for the affected communities in the Visayas, Uy added. “With the vast devastation left by typhoon Yolanda
in our country particularly in the Visayas, there are so many Filipinos who need our urgent help,” Visaya said. Visaya also appealed to the communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels to “forget our differences and let the spirit of Bayanihan be a beacon of hope for fast recovery work.”
Leyte. Remove the turmoil of rebuilding their lives. Restrain the tendency to inaction, inertia and denial of pain. Channel latent energies in the direction of erecting their shattered houses and sense of home. How? Afford them temporary shelters and hospitals for healing, but lead them
to re-construct their house, to build a bed, to shape a chair, to mix mortar, to mend jambs and to build window and doors. And then they can erect certain boundaries that define houses but strengthen friendships. Carpentry would be the best therapy!
You have objections because a lot of people there do not possess the skill? No problem! Give them the spade, the hammer, the saw, the adze, the plane, the chisel, and others beside. Teach them to use these tools. Have them compute the cost of materials, but also allow them to use what
they were able to salvage. They will learn! They will build! They will renew their lives! Briefly Noted: Happiness is a cell phone connection in Leyte. Ormoc PESO Manager Danny Canete responded this evening. Exquisite is the feeling. God be praised!
ence that planet Earth has become an unsafe place to live these days. Dr. Mahar Lagmay, Director of Proejct “NOAH’ (Networked Organisms and Habitat) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in the Philippines, said that
a “controlled microwave pulse” designed to dictate the weather is impossible. The proponent of the hypothesis should present convincing evidence that “microwave pulses” could be controlled. Lagmay said that it is only presenting a convincing evidence but
the proponent should also explain understandably the “cause and effect” of the theory. Finally, Lagmay said that the result of the studies could be initiated exactly as it was expected not once but twice or more. Anyway, whether controlling “microwave puls-
es” is possible or not, the United States has expressed the alarm that the terrorists are already in control of weapons on mass destruction. Ask the U.S. if they have the capability to control “microwave pulse,” the reply was negative. The U.S.,however, bragged that
they would have the capability to control the weather sometime in 2030. Did the U.S. initiate the “Haiyan” experiment? 0- [Listen to “Alarma sa Udtong Tutok” every 11:00 – 12:00 Mon. to Friday at 95.7 FM Mellow Touch Radio] React: crisguardian@yahoo.com
situation, the proposed bill said. from page 2 It said that the only way of the NBI seems to be un- to counter the upsurge of able to “adequately” respond a new breed of criminals to the needs of the current is to equip the NBI with
technologically savvy, stateof-the-art investigative and intelligence equipment. Along with the upgrading of the NBI’s equipment, both the investigative and
non-investigative personnel should also increase, their positions upgraded, and provided training to meet the demands of an expanded investigative and detective
work. Aside from the improvements and advancements in training, the agents and employees of the NBI should also be given adequate and
improved compensation, benefits and privileges, such as free health care insurance, accident insurance and scholarships, the proposed bill said.
from page 2
raised signal no. 1 in Misamis Oriental l a s t Mo n d a y a s t r o p i cal storm Z oraida appro aches t he Nor t her n Mindanao region. The CDRRMC made the announcement
Carpentry... from page 7
communities after last Friday’s calamitous event? Rehabilitation can now proceed even as relief operations continue to be systematically accorded the suffering masses. The context of good governance
Military... from page 7
probabilities. Yet, the millennium is moving toward a future where planet Earth is heading toward an oblivion. No, thanks to the man’s insatiable desire to gain power, wealth, and influ-
Solons...
from page 3