MAWAB, Compostela Valley -- President Rodrigo Duterte lauded on Monday the launch of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of National Defense (DND) partnership in bringing the TienDA farmers and fisherfolk outlets inside Army camps to keep soldiers safe from attacks of the New People's Army (NPA).
The President also cited the Circle of Life and KISS ME projects, camp-based enterprise development program initiated through a partnership between the DA, DND, and Aboitiz Group.
At the launch of TienDA Para sa mga Bayani at the 10th Infantry Division headquarters in Tuburan, Mawab, Compostela Valley province Monday, the President voiced concerns that soldiers who go out of the camps to market for food supply are being waylaid and ambushed by members of the NPA either on their way to the market or back to the camp.
He said he had been seeking a solution to put a stop to losing soldiers from such NPA scheme or other armed groups in other areas of Mindanao like in Zamboanga area, Jolo in Sulu, Mati in Davao Oriental, even in Calinan in his hometown.
The President bared that he has been asking Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Eduardo Ano to find something to correct the aberration.
Until one day, Duterte said he asked Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol to think of one plan that food supplies are brought to the soldiers.
The President further lauded TienDA for coming with a bonus – food with reduced prices.
“TienDa is really for the food. If it is at reduced prices, well and good,” he added.
He even advised soldiers to have a central refrigeration to preserve the food especially those which require conserving.
TienDA is a marketing strategy which aims to lower food prices by eliminating layers of middlemen in the supply chain consequently increasing farmers and fisherfolk’s income and providing them market opportunities.
The TienDA outlet at the 10th ID camp, DA and DND also opened an outlet inside the camp of the Eastern Mindanao Command in Panacan, Davao City.
Pinol said the TienDA outlet in Camp Panacan earned a total sale of P85,000 for only six hours when it opened last January 20.
Pinol said TienDA was consistent with the President’s vision for available and affordable food for the Filipinos.
He said consumers would also benefit from cheaper agri-fishery produce at farm gate prices because these no longer pass through marketing layers and middlemen.
Pinol said TienDA would also prove to the people that the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) had no effect on food prices becasue the prices of food products are low.
Aside from TienDA, DA and DND also launched KISS ME (Karne, Isda, Supply, Suporta a Masa at Ekonomiya), a project which aims to establish neighbourhood outlets that sell poultry products, meat and fish sourced directly from farmers and fisherfolk to by-pass resellers or middlemen.
Under KISS ME, Pinol said there would be two projects – P.A.G.K.A.I.N Para sa mga Bayani with the Egg Layer Machines donated by Aboitiz Group; and, the Circle of Life from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
PAGKAIN is a camp-based enterprise development program between the partnership of DA, DND and Aboitiz.
Aboitiz donated 60 kits of egg machines which will be distributed to the military camps. Each kit contains 48 heads of ready-lay hens, galvanized steel cages, feeders, nipple drinkers, water gallon containers, and feeds for one month consumption.
Pinol said an egg machine is a backyard farming starter kit that allows the continuous production of eggs in a period of 16 months.
On the other hand, the circle of life is a new fish tank system.
Pinol said using clean solar energy, the aquaculture innovation re-circulates water between two huge tanks with one tank holding for fish culture and the other growing kangkong.
With the system, people can produce healthy, full-grown organic tilapia in four months with an average weight of 319 grams and selling at an estimated price of P100 per kilo.
Pinol said farmers and fisherfolk can start a good business in their own backyard.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1022501
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