The Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP), through its CALABARZON Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO), supports the Provincial Local Governments (PLGUs) of Laguna, Quezon, and Rizal in updating their respective Provincial Commodity Investment Plans (PCIP).

The PCIP is a three-year rolling consensus and strategic plan that rationalizes the interventions within the various segments of the commodities’ value chain that are of significance to the province and that will contribute to the national goals of the agriculture and fishery sector. It is based on the value chain analyses of prioritized commodities with strong participation of various stakeholders.

Additionally, the provinces of Batangas and Cavite have their PCIPs for 2021-2023 already approved by their Provincial Development Council (PDC).

As an innovation of DA-PRDP, the PCIP reflects the infrastructure and enterprise subprojects that Local Government Units (i.e. municipalities, cities, and provinces) can propose under the Project. However, this investment plan also serves as the primary reference for the LGU, the non-PRDP portion of the DA, other government agencies, and private sectors in their planning and budgeting processes.

According to I-PLAN Component Head Maria Ella Cecilia Obligado, PCIPs may also be used to mobilize resources and technical assistance from other sources such as other agencies, private sectors, and financial institutions.

“This is a platform to institutionalize commitments from other government agencies in the context of landscape planning and convergence,” Obligado said.

The Provincial LGU (PLGU), through its Provincial Project Management Implementing Unit (PPMIU), leads the formulation and updating of the investment plan, with the provision of the provincial statistical data regarding production, area planted, and area harvested. Likewise, the PLGU will identify the players within the value chain of a specific commodity and assist in conducting stakeholder’s consultation.

It is also important as the PCIP is one of the main anchors of the Provincial-led Agriculture and Fisheries Extension System (PAFES) of the DA to support and enhance agricultural development in every province. This is also the answer of the Department regarding the outcomes of the Mandanas Ruling.

The provinces of Laguna, Quezon, and Rizal had seen 3% (PhP305.91 million), 15% (PhP2.24 billion), and 23% (PhP328.18 million) of its total investment requirements (PhP9.02 billion, PhP14.46 billion, PhP1.41 billion), from the current PCIP already funded, respectively.

For Laguna, a visioning exercise and submission of new interventions to be included in the updated PCIP will be conducted next month. Laguna’s priority commodities include banana, cacao, coffee, dairy cattle, mango, pineapple, and virgin coconut oil.

Over at the Province of Quezon, the PPMIU presented to the different city and municipal agriculturists the interventions identified to be included in the updated PCIP on July 30, 2021. Quezon’s priority commodities include banana, cacao, coffee, dairy cattle, lowland vegetables, mango, pineapple, seaweeds, virgin coconut oil, coconut sugar, and abaca.

Finally, on July 29, 2021, the Rizal PPMIU conducted a visioning exercise and workshop to identify the interventions needed per commodity of each town and city. The Province of Rizal’s priority commodities include banana, mango, pineapple, lowland vegetables, swine, and chicken egg.

Once finalized, these will be presented to their respective PDCs for approval. These will in turn be the basis for the new proposals under DA-PRDP and interventions that will be funded by the DA banner programs, attached agencies, and other national government offices.  (Lawrence Albert Bariring, DA-PRDP CALABARZON RPCO InfoACE Unit)

Representatives from different municipalities and city of Rizal participate during the workshop to identify which limitations per commodity are applicable in their localities.

Municipal Agriculturist Izy San Jose of Teresa, Rizal shares the identified interventions for each limitations identified per commodity in the draft PCIP

DA-PRDP CALABARZON Planning Officer Mary Jane Rayosa gives the importance of PCIP updating

DA-PRDP South Luzon I-PLAN Component Head Jo-Marie Libarnes together with staff from Office of Provincial Agriculturist and Provincial Planning and Development Office of Quezon discuss additional commodities that can be included in the PCIP once value chain analyses are conducted