Regional Agriculture and Fishery Council (RAFC) chairman, Ricardo P. Provido Jr., took over the Farmer-Director role for Western Visayas this May.

During the Management Committee (ManCom) meeting held yesterday, Department of Agriculture VI (DA-6) Regional Executive Director Remelyn R. Recoter turned over the banner of responsibility to Provido who is now tasked to implement and disseminate the key programs of the agency. She was joined by Regional Technical Directors Manuel O. Olanday and Dr. Peter S. Sobrevega.

This is in reference to the memorandum order signed by Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol on March 27, 2017 that all RAFC chairpersons shall be designated as Farmer-Director for all Regional Field Offices in the country.

This Farmer-Director Program is one of the approaches to enhance further understanding of RAFC Chairpersons in the internal and external processes, programs, and projects of the government by giving them the opportunity to work at the helm of DA Regional Offices.

Provido, who has been serving as RAFC Chairperson since 1987, shall visit facilities, attend to different consultations and events, and inspect DA banner programs.

However, his authority shall only be limited to non-policy determining activities which should not in any way affect the government accounting rules and procedures as well as the service rules and regulations governing regular government employees.

As Provido assumes his role as Farmer-Director for Western Visayas, Recoter will focus on the monitoring of programs and projects within her jurisdiction and to have dialogues with the local chief executives regarding the significance of AFCs.

For acting as Farmer-Director in 2017, Provido was able to pass a resolution requesting the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fishery to recommend to the DA that all programs and projects shall be endorsed by the AFCs. With that resolution, LGUs need to create their AFCs to avail with the programs and projects of DA. (DA 6 Information with reports from RAFC-6)