InfoACE focal persons from the  Local Government Units (LGUs) are all set  to join the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) in Information, Education and Communication(IEC) and advocacy work.

After attending the training on Journalism Writing  and Communicating Information thru Social Media, the said focal persons and other attendees sealed their commitments to contribute to the Project’s communication objectives.

“We need to effectively communicate the project’s activities and accomplishments to the public and your presence is an indication of your desire and commitment to effectively communicate the project. Communicating under different mediums and skills is indeed very challenging,” said Robert Domoguen, Head of the InfoACE Unit at the PRDP RPCO-CAR in his opening remarks.

The training is in line with  the framework of the InfoACE showing roles of LGU InfoACE focal persons at the municipal and provincial levels to assist  the RPCO InfoACE unit in communicating PRDP updates in their respective provinces/municipalities.

“One of the strategies in intensifying the PRDP’s advocacy efforts is the active involvement of LGU InfoACE Focal Persons,” said Jan Dacumos, the activity’s resource person and formely Communication Specialist at the DA PRDP National Project Coorinating Office.

Accordingly, most focal persons do not posses the relevant trainings needed in IEC and advocay work.

Dacumos said that the training aims to provide new skills or hone existing skills of InfoACE personnel, LGU Focal persons and those who are involved in information advocacy for the DA CAR regular programs within the context of the DA PRDP as well as regular programs and using social media as a communication channel.

Correspondingly, Dacumos formulated a system that involved input discussions and workshops conducted on the following topics: On writing well: General Tips in producing quality articles; The ABCs of Newswriting +  Tips on Writing Good News Stories; Feature Writing Basics + Tips on Producing Good Feature Stories and Basics and Tips: Harnessing the Power of Social Media.

Before the wrap up of said activity, the participants have set commitments to the Project’s IEC and advocay work and have requested for additional trainings in the future specifically on advanced documentation techniques using tools such as digital cameras for photographs and video production.

“There is no end to learning,” said Robert Domoguen. “We are here to learn how to communicate more effectively to our farmers and stakeholders, to learn new skills, to simplify our approaches. The beauty of this training is to gain, and to gain much from it.”

Domoguen also urged the participants to continue learning how to improve their communication skills through different kinds of media despite the educational attainments and numerous trainings and ended his closing remarks with the line by T.J. Elliot that goes, “We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.” (MA. IMELDA ISABEL B. ZABALA, RPCO-CAR InfoACE)

RPCO-CAR InfoACE Unit Head Robert L. Domoguen urges the participants to continue learning how to improve their communication skills despite the educational attainments and numerous trainings in his closing message during the training.