CATBALOGAN CITY, SAMAR—Department of Agriculture chief Manny Piñol yesterday said the Duterte Administration will work to cut poverty incidence in Samar Island, whose three provinces were the Top 3 poorest in the country, by half in two years.
“This is urgent. Our target is, if you now register a 50-percent poverty incidence, we will have to cut it down to 25 percent, not during the entire incumbency of President Duterte, but only in two years,” said Piñol.
The DA chief was in Catbalogan to meet local leaders, farmers and fishermen groups in the Eastern Visayas, as part of his promise to return to Samar to improve the lot of Samarnons. Before his assumption as DA chief, he vowed to transform the island into a major food producer of the country.
Piñol said the DA will provide free palay seeds good for two croppings, a working irrigation system, pre- and post-harvest implements and technical assistance for inter-cropping.
“I want to see Samar thriving with coconuts and cacao and coffee. I also would like to inform you that we are supporting tree farming and we will pay a monthly honorarium for those who would want to engage in it, I will meet with Environment Secretary Gina Lopez on the 19th to discuss this program,” Piñol concluded.
However, during his visit, dubbed as “Aragtubang,” Piñol warned local leaders and regional officials of the DA not to make the department a milking cow and urged them to give the farmers what is due them.
“No nonsense plans this time, no Farm to Pocket Roads, come up with validated data-bases of farmers and include their locations and lot numbers. The farmers should be insured by the government. I will help you and I will give you all the funds that you need, provided we will do things right,” he stressed.
The DA chief lambasted the National Irrigation Administration for failing to finish most of the irrigation projects in the region. He particularly cited the Basey Irrigation Project in Samar, which according to the report of Gov. Sharee Ann Tan remains unfinished.
The NIA Regional Office 8, however, explained that most of the funds for its various irrigation projects are being downloaded to them piece by piece or on a staggered basis, thus causing delays.
Piñol requested the NIA to submit the documents pertaining to its various irrigation projects so that he can personally check and follow up the release of the needed funds.
“I will help you do it, we will get those funds, but you have to make sure that these projects will be finished on the date that you promised, otherwise I will reassign you to Jolo, we also have many irrigation projects there,” he warned.
To hasten the implementation of DA’s programs in the region, Piñol made all municipal and city agriculturists part of the DA personnel who report directly to his office.
“In two weeks, our personnel will come back, and we will be settingup Project Management Offices in every province here, these PMOs will be in-charge in the planning, implementation and monitoring of our programs,” the DA chief announced.
Meanwhile, some 61 fisherfolk from this city and the island town of Zumarraga received 61 paddled and motorized boats from the DA chief.
Piñol turned over 20 paddled boats and 20 motorized boats to select fishermen of Catbalogan, while one motorized boat and 20 more paddled boats were given to select fishermen of Zumarraga town.
The boats, he added, is but an initial step in his plan to reduce poverty in Samar province.