Author: Ma. Cecilia C. Irang

Dr. Ester Flores deems the past two years of her government service among her anni mirabiles, after she was conferred the rank of Scientist I under the Scientific Career System in 2020 and was hailed, this year, as one of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Pagasa awardees.

Dr. Flores, DA-Philippine Carabao Center’s (DA-PCC) supervising science research specialist, and other outstanding government workers were conferred recognition during the virtual awarding rites led by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on November 15 for exemplary display of public service. The conferment ceremony was aired via the Facebook pages and YouTube channels of CSC and Radio Television Malacañang, respectively.

The DA-PCC’s National Genetic Improvement Program (GIP) Coordinator was recognized for her significant contributions and professional expertise in research and development particularly in animal breeding and genomics and for being the prime mover of the central animal genetic data management program.

Among her noteworthy accomplishments include the establishment and implementation of separate structured breeding program for riverine and swamp buffaloes, development of a suitable genetic evaluation model for estimation of genetic parameters and estimated breeding values (EBVs), and marker assisted selection, which all paved the way to DA-PCC becoming the only livestock agency in the DA that has a well-organized and -structured breeding program demonstrated with locally produced riverine buffalo and swamp buffalo bulls with EBVs.

These initiatives, coupled with genomic selection using high density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, ushered the latest generation of performance- and progeny-tested Philippine dairy buffalo bulls with pedigree-based and genomic breeding values.

“What’s more encouraging is when you see your efforts pay off. Knowing that farmers are benefiting from our breeding program is priceless and I call that job satisfaction,” Dr. Flores said.

“Job satisfaction is more than money. It’s really looking at your effort to see if your job actually has done something or has impacted the lives of our farmers. If that happens, it is definitely a pat on our back and that’s it for me,” she added.

President Duterte also imparted an inspirational message to the awardees saying: “The awards that you received today only mean progress for our nation. Carry it proudly and use it to inspire and serve more Filipinos.”

Pagasa award is “given to an individual or group of individuals for outstanding contributions that directly benefit more than one department of the government.”

The CSC said the awardees will receive a gold medal crafted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, cash prize and a plaque signed by President Duterte.

Three officials from DA-Philippine Carabao Center (DA-PCC) National Headquarters received recognition during the Regional Honor Awards-Region 3 under the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Honor Awards Program (HAP) for exemplary display of public service.

To commemorate this accomplishment, the Human Resource Management Section conducted an award ceremony for the awardees from DA-PCC.

Knowledge Management Division (KMD) Chief Dr. Eric P. Palacpac and Head Researcher of the Breeding and Genetics Unit Dr. Ester B. Flores were conferred the CSC Pagasa Award (Individual Category), while Chief of Livestock Biotechnology Center Dr. Claro N. Mingala received the Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award. Dr. Flores has also officially advanced as one of the semifinalists in the National level. In addition, Ms. Anna Reylene Montes from DA-PCC University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) also bagged the CSC Pagasa Award in Region IV.

The CSC HAP is an annual program that aims to motivate or inspire government employees to improve their quality of performance and instill deeper involvement in public service. This is in line with the Philippine Civil Service Anniversary Celebration, which is conducted every month of September.

The first of the two Dairy Boxes in the province of Bataan was formally opened and turned-over by the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Carabao Center at Cenral Luzon State University (DA-PCC at CLSU) to the members of Makabagong Agrikultura ng Dinalupihan Marketing Cooperative (MA-DMC) in Brgy. San Ramon, Common Terminal, Dinalupihan, Bataan.

The provision is under the Carabao-based Improvement Network (CBIN) Project funded by the Office of Senator Cynthia Villar with assistance from the local government of Dinalupihan, Bataan. The project propels an inclusive, sustainable, and highly competitive local dairy industry.

The Dairy Box aims to support our local dairy buffalo farmers to market their milk and meat products and provides hope to improve their quality of life.

The turn-over ceremony was led by DA-PCC’s Deputy Executive Director for Production and Research Dr. Claro N. Mingala and Center Director Dr. Ericson N. Dela Cruz, Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Alberto S. Venturina, Regional Livestock Coordinator Ms. Elisa Mallari and Municipal Mayor Hon. Maria Angela S. Garcia.

Senator Cynthia A. Villar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food and Agrarian Reform delivered her virtual message for the said ceremony emphasizing the importance of the carabao industry in the country so her office invested funds to increase the number of carabao raisers and establish dairy processing facilities to provide milk for the children. “Sana ang benepisyo ng Dairy Box na pasisinayaan ay makatulong sa mamamayan ng Dinalupihan at makatulong sa miyembro ng kooperatiba,”as she ended her message.

The Dairy Box offers products full of goodness from carabao’s milk like lacto juice, choco, pasteurized, yogurt, pastillas, polvoron, soft ice cream. It also provides meat products such as tocino, papaitan, tapa, and other delights. The store is open to the public every day from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

With the endorsement of Department of Agriculture-Philippine Carabao Center (DA-PCC), 38 carapreneurs from Nueva Ecija were formally granted a total of PHP4,617,000 worth of loan by the New Rural Bank of San Leonardo (NRBSL) Incorporated, Nueva Ecija, under the DA-Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC)  Agri-Negosyo Loan Program (ANYO).

The ceremonial turn-over, which happened during the 7th National Carabao Conference closing program, was graced by Abundio Quililan Jr., NRBSL President and Chief Executive Officer, and DA-PCC OIC Executive Director Dr. Ronnie D. Domingo and few carapreneurs who were able to attend the event physically.

The loan will be used purposively for purchase of additional numbers of carabao as well as improvement of carabao pen and other incidental or miscellaneous expenses. The loan proceeds will be released directly to the supplier of carabao and/or source of construction materials except for the miscellaneous/incidental expenses which will be received in cash by the carapreneur beneficiaries.

The DA-ACPC ANYO Program is a zero-interest capital loan intended to support the daily business operations of small farmers and fisherfolk, farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs), and agri-fishery-based micro and small enterprises (MSEs).

The Department of Agriculture-Philippine Carabao Center (DA-PCC) highlights meaningful partnerships with various local government units and private institutions in the recently concluded 7th National Carabao Conference (NCC) held in a blended approach (online and on-site following standard safety and health protocols) on October 25 to 29.

The conference kicked off with the opening of a techno exhibit, which showcased DA-PCC’s technologies at the Milka Krem compound. The ribbon cutting ceremony for the exhibit was presided by Science City of Muñoz Administrator Dr. Raul Divina, DA-PCC OIC Executive Director Dr. Ronnie Domingo, DA-PCC Deputy Executive Director Dr. Caro Salces and 7th NCC overall Chairperson Dr. Peregrino Duran. Dr. Cyril Baltazar, Farm Superintendent II, facilitated the demonstration and explained the importance of some technologies such as the baler machine.

The techno exhibit is also part of the Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita where carabao’s milk-based products, Kardeli carabao’s meat products, and local vegetables and fruits produced by different partner cooperatives and farmers were also on sale.

Meanwhile, DA Secretary William Dar in his keynote address enumerated the carabao industry’s goals, which include accelerating herd build up, increasing productivity and profitability of carabao-based enterprises, ensuring availability of safe and quality milk and meat products from genetically improved carabaos and harnessing the niche market for carabao-derived products. 

“In achieving such goals, we must modernize farm facilities, strengthen farm consolidation, reduce the cost of feed, strengthen research for development, and continue collaboration with LGUs,” encouraged Dar.

He also mentioned the PL480 project under the United States Agricultural Trade and Development Assistance for the carabao industry stakeholders, which aims to increase the annual family income of carabao farmers by 20%, produce 27. 7 million liters of milk, establish 22 provincewide impact areas as dairy business hubs, increase dairy carabao inventory and provide policy actions that are supportive to dairy business buildup. The PL480 will be jointly implemented by the National Dairy Authority (NDA), DA-PCC and Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) as fund manager.

Similarly, Committee Chairperson for Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform Senator Cynthia Villar reiterated the importance of carabao’s milk as a supplement for nutritional deficiency in undernourished children and as an additional livelihood for local farmers and entrepreneurs. Thus, it encourages more farmers and entrepreneurs to venture into  dairy industry in the country.

Further, DA-PCC OIC Executive Director, Dr. Ronnie Domingo, during his presentation of the Carabao Industry Roadmap, emphasized the importance of the competitiveness in marketing industry. He challenged the agency to  identify niche market where the agency will target specific consumers and market segment for carabao-based products.

DA-Assistant Secretary-Designate for Regulations, Dr. Liza Battad, also shared her encouragement through virtual presentation during the program.

Activities during the third and fourth day include the Launching of the New DA-PCC Music Video sung and composed by outgoing DA-PCC at La Carlota Stock Farm Center Director Ariel Abaquita, Roundtable Discussion with DA-PCC Partner Chief Executives hosted by Francis “Kiko” Flores of Tulong Balita Online, Dairy Value Chain Innovations updates, and Discussions on the agency’s Policy and Program Implementations.

These were followed by the recognition of the 7th NCC awardees across the DA-PCC network. Winners for the Outstanding Dairy Farmers (Family Module Category) include Ceferino Ligot, Panfilo Tutor, and Pedro Silvidad; (Semi-commercial Category) Ernie Lita June Flores and Dominic Paclibar; and (Commercial Category) Elpidio Manaloto Jr. Winners for Outstanding Dairy Buffalo Cooperative/ Farmers Association include General Trias Dairy Raisers Multi-purpose Cooperative, San Jose Dairy Producers Association, and Muleta Side Buffalo Dairy Association. Winners for Outstanding Bull Recipients include Joselito Canlas and Ruben Butlig while winners for Outstanding Village-based Artificial Insemination Technicians (VBAITs) include Bernie Glenn Guevarra and Rolly Richard Zalameda. Also, awardees for Best Dairy Cow (Purebred-Junior Cow Category) ID no 2BP16013 owned by Richard Reyes, ID no 2LC17006 owned by Doreen Alicia and ID no 2LSC14012 owned by Gregorio Cueco; and  (Purebred-Senior Cow Category) ID no 2NIZ16006 onwed by Victoriano Dumale and ID no IT20141135 owned by Melgin Zenith were recognized.

The testimonial narratives video for the ALAB Karbawan Project Communities, which were sponsored by Sen. Villar, was also premiered followed by the launching of Gawad Livestock and Poultry Award and holding of a Knowledge Café.

Private partners from the New Rural Bank of San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija Inc. also loaned out Php4,617,000 to selected dairy cooperatives, which was part of the DA-Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) Agri-Negosyo Loan program.

A MOA Signing of the DA-PCC, Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), and Le Ferme Livestock Development Partnership took place after the closing ceremony. The agreement aims to establish the partnership between the three agencies in revolutionizing the livestock production by producing the best quality of beef cattle through the infusion of the Wagyu breed and to strengthen the dairy production by producing genetically superior buffaloes using the advanced reproductive biotechnologies.

Ready-to-consume dairy carabao products are now officially available to the public 24/7 following the launching of a oneSTore.ph vending machine of the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Carabao Center (DA-PCC) on October 27.

Located beside the entrance of the Milka Krem outlet in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, the automated machine aims to promote the produce of local dairy farmers and make them conveniently and easily accessible to a wider range of consumers.

It was made possible through the DA-PCC’s partnership with the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development thru its oneSTore.ph project; and Central Luzon State University-Central Luzon Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium.

Marivic Orge, DA-PCC’s Central Dairy Collecting and Processing Facility Plant Manager, demonstrated the how-tos of operating the vending machine and underscored its importance as a new marketing scheme in this time of pandemic.

“This will be useful for our ‘kababayans’ who want to patronize our dairy farmers’ products but are unable to at times when the Milka Krem store is already closed. It offers fast service and prime location to ensure that you can still enjoy dairy products any time at your convenience,” Orge said.

She also assured the customers that the products in the vending machine are always fresh as they replace them with new stocks every three days to avoid spoilage.

Specifically, among the products available include pasteurized milk, chocomilk, rice milk, yogurt, pastillas, polvoron, and milkaroons.

Also present during the launching were DA-PCC Deputy Executive Director for Admin. and Finance Dr. Caro Salces, Deputy Executive Director for Production and Research Dr. Claro Mingala, Carabao-Based Enterprise Development Section Officer-in-Charge Joel Cabading, and former DA-PCC Executive Director Dr. Libertado Cruz. The launching ceremony was broadcast live via the DA-PCC’s Facebook page in partnership with Tulong Balita Online.

The Department of Agriculture (DA)-Philippine Carabao Center stages this year the 7^th National Carabao Conference (NCC) with the theme “Sulong Kakalabawan! Pag-asa’t Pagbangon sa Kabila ng Pandemya” from October 25 to 29 through a blended event.

The NCC is a venue for sharing efforts and interventions to prosper the carabao industry even at the time of the pandemic.

This year’s conference will highlight meaningful partnerships with various local government units and private institutions in achieving the DA’s twin objective: “Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita.”

The weeklong conference will include topics on Shared Success of Carabao Impact Zone Development: A Clustering Approach with LGUs—The Bohol and Nueva Ecija Experience; Genetic Breeder Base and Herd Buildup—The Isabela Experience; Community-based Enterprise Development—The Pangasinan and Cavite Experience; Fostering “Coopreneurship”: LGU Coinvestment in the Milk Feeding Business—The Zamboanga Del Sur Experience; A Toast to a Bright Future: The DepEd and DSWD Milk Feeding Updates; and Impact of Milk Feeding Program on Local Dairy Buffalo Industries, which will be presented by the provincial and local executives and partner agencies in the implementation of the milk feeding program.

Joining the event will be dairy farmers assisted by DA-PCC, partners, entrepreneurs, local government officials, and representatives from various government agencies and partner private organizations in the implementation of the Carabao Development Program (CDP).

Other activities include techno exhibit, recognition ceremonies for 2020 Outstanding Dairy Farmers, Dairy Buffaloes, Cooperative and Village-Based Artificial Insemination Technicians (VBAITs), launching of Gawad Livestock and Poultry and Knowledge Café.

Following last year’s celebration, this year’s NCC will be held virtually via the official Facebook page of DA-PCC in partnership with Tulong Balita Online. The 7^th NCC coincides with the DA’s 1st National Livestock and Poultry Month Celebration which aims to recognize stakeholders who make up the livestock and poultry industry and continually contribute to food and nutritional security in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Selected participants from DA-PCC undergo crash course on Radio Broadcasting 101 arranged by the Knowledge Management Division (KMD) in preparation for the agency’s forthcoming launching of the Knowledge Studio or K-Studio.

The resource speakers were veteran broadcast journalists Mario Garcia, member of the Investigative Reporters & Editors, Inc.; Andy T. Vital, editor of the Pasadena Now magazine in California; Mackay V. Quadra, producer and writer of “Radyo na, TV pa programs”; and Francis ‘Kiko’ J. Flores, announcer at Radyo Pilipinas 738Khz.

The lectures and discussions were on basic anchoring, writing and programming for radio and digital media, and radio broadcasting terminologies.The lecture was followed with the participants’ hands on at the K-Studio with Dagupan City Councilor and broadcaster Cisco Jay Flores and his staff. 

The K-Studio will serve as a venue to produce digital content that will promote the Carabao Development Program through “TeleRadyo” approach via the DA-PCC official Facebook page. A pilot broadcast will be aired during the 7th National Carabao Conference this October.

In the recently concluded 2021 Research for Development In-House Review of Completed Researches and Research Symposium, the DA-Philippine Carabao Center (DA-PCC) identified the winners for the three-day review from September 28 to 30 via video conference.

The research paper titled “Prevalence, Molecular Epidemiology and Antibiotic Resistance Profiles of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from Milk and Nasal samples of Dairy Buffaloes” authored by Claro N. Mingala, Alona T. Badua, and Paula Blanca V. Gaban received the “Best Completed Paper” award with 93.75% average score. Under the criteria for the said award, the Title consists 10%, Introduction 10%, Materials and Methods 25%, Results and Discussion 40%, and finally the Summary and Conclusion for 15%.

The DA-PCC at Ubay Stock Farm (DA-PCC at USF) was also given recognition for having the “Most Number of Papers Presented,” while Dr. Thelma A. Saludes from DA-PCC at University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) received the award for “Best Oral Presenter.”

Apart from certificates, the winners will also be receiving cash prizes. The panel of evaluators were Dr. Virginia Venturina, Dean of the College of Veterinary Science and Medicine in Central Luzon State University (CLSU); Dr. Joice San Andres, Department Chair of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, CLSU; Prof. Jessica Rustia,  Associate Professor V of the Department of Food and Science Technology, College of Home Science and Industry, CLSU; and finally Dr. Consuelo Amor Estrella, Professor, Institute of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Food Science UPLB.