The Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (DA-BAFS), led by Director Vivencio R. Mamaril and DA-National Organic Agriculture Program (NOAP) Director Bernadette F. San Juan, awarded the accreditation to the first Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) Organic Certifying Body (OCB) core group in the Philippines on May 16 at DA Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) Regional Field Office (RFO).
Concepcion M. Sotero, Agnes F. Duyao, Anita P. Sinakay, Ben S. Domingo, and Isko C. Buslay are the five organic farmers from Tublay, Benguet who undergone series of PGS training and became the first PGS OCB core group members.
The establishment of the PGS OCB core group is in accordance with Republic Act No. 11511 or “The Amendment on the Organic Agriculture Law of 2010.”
PGS aims to help small organic farmers by providing organic certification with lesser certification expenses and time-saving processes.
Also in PGS, the trusted and established organic farmers in the community are the ones who are eligible to be part of the PGS OCB.
DA Secretary William D. Dar and RA 11511 principal author Senator Cynthia Villar hoped that the first PGS OCB core group will continue to promote organic agriculture throughout the country, empower small farmers to engage in organic agriculture, and produce affordable organic products.
“Very happy kasi gaya nga ng sabi, kami ang first accredited PGS OCB hindi lang sa CAR kundi sa buong Pilipinas. May nerbyos din kasi ang accreditation na ito ay may halong malaking responsibilidad, ‘yon ay kung paano natin ma-sustain ang certification at accreditation at paano pa namin ma-spread ang organic agriculture hindi lang sa CAR kundi sa entire Philippines. Pero alam namin na patuloy ninyo kaming susuportahan,” Jeffrey Sotero, Tublay Municipal Agriculturist, said.
“Nandito lang kami [BAFS and NOAP] para i-maintain ‘yan [accreditation]. Kung kailangan ninyo ng tulong para sa ibang gustong magpa-certify, nandito lang kami,” Dir. Mamaril assured.
DA, through NOAP and BAFS, aims to establish more PGS OCB by conducting PGS training in every region for the purpose of achieving prosperous yield and high income for the organic farmers. (PR)