IloIlo, August 23, 2021. With the intent to harmonize the understanding on the basic concepts of Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) pursuant to the provision of the Republic Act No. 11511 or the amended Organic Agriculture Act of 2010, the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS) conducted a virtual focused group orientation (FGO) with the DA Regional Field Office VI (DA-RFO Western Visayas) together with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region VI on August 23, 2021.
The virtual orientation held at the DA-RFO VI Regulatory Division’s office via Cisco Webex was attended by personnel from various operating units of the DA-RFO VI led by Regional Executive Director Engr. Remelyn Recoter, Regulatory Chief Dr. Jonic Natividad, Organic Agriculture Focal Person Ms. Glenda Himatay, representatives from the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program, Regional Soils Laboratory, and other divisions involved in organic agriculture. BFAR Region VI Director Remia Aparri and colleagues also attended the virtual orientation.
The BAFS Team, composed of Mr. Vicente Limsan, Jr. and Mr. Jay El Bautista from the OAD Accreditation Section, presented the salient points of the RA 11511, particularly the relevant provisions on PGS, the criteria and procedure for the certification and accreditation of core PGS groups, and the PGS Rollout Plan for CY 2021. The conduct of cluster-wide training for regulatory personnel is among the activities set to be conducted in September to October 2021. The Team further clarified the roles of the concerned operating units of the DA-RFOs, BAFS, and other DA regulatory agencies; and discussed possible collaboration arrangements among these agencies.
During the open forum, the participants sought clarifications on where the farmers can seek technical assistance to capacitate them to form the PGS group. Mr. Limsan responded that the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) and the RFO are responsible for giving such assistance to the farmers. Also, the specific role(s) of the DA-RFO Regulatory Division in the certification and accreditation process were further explained and clarified.
As of this writing, another team from BAFS conducts FGO in Caraga Administrative Region (Region XIII). Furthermore, the BAFS team from Region VI will head straight to Victorias City in Negros Occidental to serve as resource persons on the ATI Regional Training Center VI (ATI-RTC Western Visayas) Training of Trainers on the Installation of Operations Manual for PGS Core Group. ###