PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – After initiating the interagency convergence for the key commodities of Puerto Princesa City last year, the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) with the city government continues to work in acquiring strategic investments for rural development.

The second convergence meeting conducted in Puerto Princesa City manifests a stronger collaboration with the PRDP’s partner agencies that signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for interagency. The partner agencies include the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and Landbank of the Philippines (LBP). From the academe, Western Philippines University (WPU) and Palawan State University (PSU) also signed the MOU.

The MOU is a formal arrangement among government and non-government agencies with the goal of generating strategic investments in developing the priority commodities of each province or city.

Through this collaboration, the local government can extend efforts in funding interventions identified in each commodity investment plan even after the six-year implementation of PRDP.

“After the end of the PRDP, we will continue implementing the City Commodity Investment Plans (CCIPs) from which the respective government agencies and institutions can assist in developing the four commodities of Puerto Princesa,” said City Agriculturist Melissa Macasaet.

In Puerto Princesa, only the cashew and mango industries have ongoing subprojects under the PRDP. These subprojects respectively include farm-to-market roads and a processing center.

Moreover, there are several assistances from other agencies being implemented such as the continuous regulation on the mango produce by the BPI – Quarantine due to the presence of mango pulp weevil in the Province of Palawan and provision of farm machineries and equipment for mango growers funded by DAR through its ARC Connectivity and Economic Support Services.

For the cashew industry, the DOST has community factories located in the cashew-producing municipalities in Palawan. At the same time, the agency is also providing technology acquisition support for banana processors in Puerto Princesa City.

For seaweed farmers, a training on seaweeds production was also conducted by the DOST in cooperation with the PSU. ### (Leira Vic Colongon, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO InfoACE Unit)

Remy Bacuel of Department of Agrarian Reform presents the interventions of the agency particularly for the mango industry of Puerto Princesa City. (Photo by Leira Vic Colongon, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO InfoACE Unit)

MIMAROPA’s I-PLAN Component Head Marilyn Bienes gives a short introduction on the history of interagency convergence among the provinces in MIMAROPA. (Photo by Leira Vic Colongon, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO InfoACE Unit)