STA. CRUZ, Laguna — Fourteen different government agencies and academic institutions signified their support for agricultural development and growth in the province of Laguna through interagency convergence.

On February 18, 2019, Governor Ramil Hernandez led the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the use of Provincial Commodity Investment Plans (PCIP) during people’s day.

According to Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP) CALABARZON I-PLAN Component Head Redelliza Gruezo, the MOU signing is one of the key initiatives of the component in the region.

“We want every agency and especially the province to know that the PCIP is not only for PRDP but for all providers of agri-fishery interventions,” Gruezo added.

The Provincial Government crafted the PCIP with the help of all city and municipal agricultural offices to identify their needed interventions. These assistances are based on the opportunities and constraints found throughout the Value Chain Analysis (VCA) for priority commodities.

Commodities included in the Laguna PCIP are dairy cattle, VCO, coffee, cacao, mango, pineapple, and banana. Additional commodities will be included once their VCAs are approved.

For Regional Deputy Project Director Abelardo Bragas, who represented PRDP CALABARZON Project Director Felix Ramos during the signing, the PCIP will allow the province of Laguna to access more sources of investments for its agri-fishery industry whether through infrastructures, enterprises, financing, or research and development.

Municipalities in Laguna are active in implementing various PRDP subprojects in their locality. The town of Cavinti has already completed its first Potable Water System (PWS) with another one under the pipeline. Furthermore, the municipality of Luisiana has an I-BUILD subproject via another PWS and an I-REAP subproject for its cacao industry.

Moreover, the towns of Sta. Maria and Pangil have subprojects (Farm-to-Market Road and PWS, respectively) being proposed under PRDP’s additional financing from the World Bank. The total cost of subprojects in Laguna is P325 million; P292 million of which comes from the loan proceeds and the national government.

Present during the signing of the MOU were representatives from Department of Agriculture and its different attached agencies which include Fertilizers and Pesticides Authority, National Dairy Authority, National Irrigation Administration, Philippine Coconut Authority, Agriculture Credit Policy Council, Agriculture Training Institute, and Bureau of Animal Industry.

The South Luzon Project Support Office and CALABARZON Regional Project Coordination Office of PRDP also signed the document together with the Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Trade and Industry, and Department of Science and Technology.

The Laguna State Polytechnic University and the University of the Philippines Los Baños also participated in the activity as academic partners for Laguna’s commodities.

The province of Batangas just signed their own MOU in March 2019. Quezon and Cavite have signed its own in 2017 and 2018, respectively. The Rizal province will also have their own MOU. ###(Lawrence Albert Bariring, DA-PRDP CALABARZON RPCO InfoACE Unit)

Governor Ramil Hernandez of Laguna together with PRDP CALABARZON Deputy Project Director Abelardo Bragas signed the Memorandum of Understanding for the Interagency Convergence use of the Provincial Commodity Investment Plans. Fourteen other government agencies also signed the document.