DA MARKS 120TH ANNIVERSARY;
HONORS EXEMPLARY WORKERS
By Manny Piñol
There were no bands, cakes or balloons yesterday as the Department of Agriculture, the second oldest government agency organized during the Revolutionary Period, celebrated its 120th Foundation Anniversary in the DA Compound in Quezon City.
After the flag-raising ceremony, a small exhibit of photos showing the different transformative programs the DA implemented in the two years of the administration of President Rody Duterte and a TienDA which displayed and sold agricultural products in the hallway of the Old DA Building were opened for a weeklong display.
A sports festival featuring an inter-department competitions was also opened at the DA Gymnasium.
This was followed by a program in the hall of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management beside the Old DA Building where officials of the department honored former Agriculture Secretary and Senate President Edgardo Angara and the outstanding workers and employees of the agency.
Workers who have served the Department from 5 to 40 years were also given Loyalty Awards which included cash gifts.
Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, his mother, Gloria, and sister, Anna, received the Plaque of Appreciation awarded to the late Senate President who was also the author of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) and who as Agriculture Secretary also led the Department in posting a positive growth under the administration of President Joseph Estrada.
In his response delivered after the awarding, Senator Angara said his family was honored to hear the accolades for his father’s accomplishments as Secretary of Agriculture in the short-lived Estrada Presidency.
The late Senate President’s widow, Gloria, also thanked the DA officials personally for honoring her husband with the ceremony.
The week-long celebration will be marked by a short activity also at the DA Compound on Friday.
Last year, to mark the 119th Anniversary of the DA, the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) Program was launched in Malimono, Surigao del Norte, one of the poorest fishing towns of the country, where a credit facility of P15-M was made available to farmers and fishermen.
The PLEA Program has been replicated in many more poor areas of the country and a total of P1-B has been loaned out to poor farmers and fishermen.
For 2019, the DA is proposing an additional P10-B for the Easy Access Credit Program.
(Photos show yesterday’s ceremonies marking the 120th Anniversary of the Department of Agriculture.)
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