The Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO) CALABARZON recently converged for a partnership together with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) CALABARZON and the Provincial and Local Government of Quezon and Infanta on the expression of interest to be a part of the DA-PRDP Program under the Second Additional Financing.

Held on January 27, 2022 the virtual orientation unified all parties for achieving a common goal of participating towards the continuous growth of the industry of Tuna in the province of CALABARZON.

I-REAP Officer Kristel Vito-Lalap led the introduction of the DA-PRDP program and the I-REAP Component towards Enterprise Management, with Planning Officer MJ Rayosa verifying the province’s Value Chain Analysis (VCA) Commodity.

Infanta Mayor Filipina Grace America also graced the meeting through virtual participation, where she mentioned that they are looking forward to the developing partnership between the DA-PRDP and their local government, as well as the potential help that the project will offer towards the residents of Infanta.

As decided, BFAR and the provincial government of Quezon will first identify their final decision as to who will be the potential proponent group before requesting another presentation date.

Providing the closing remarks for the activity, BFAR Regional Fisheries Training and Fisherfolk Coordination Division (RFTFCD) Division Chief Maribeth H. Ramos expressed that this is only just the start of their partnership with the DA-PRDP, BFAR, and the Provincial Government of Quezon, which will be a great leap for the possible future goal of exportation of tuna in neighboring countries of the Philippines.

“This is not the closing activity, but this is just the start of us being able to materialize our vision to help the tuna fisherfolks dahil maganda po talaga ang production data ng pagtutuna sa Infanta-Real area. It is time to upgrade the product that they are producing.”, Ramos expressed.

With the newly formed partnership in place, the LGU of Infanta, Quezon aims for a promising future for the commercial fisherfolk in the said province. (Eli Ocial, DA-PRDP RPCO CALABARZON InfoACE Unit)

Virtual Meeting with Infanta LGU, OPA Quezon, BFAR CALABARZON, PRDP staff

I-REAP Officer Kristel Vito-Lalap introducing the PRDP project to Infanta LGU

Close up of the presentation, highlighting the I-REAP Component