CALABARZON, December 20, 2023 – The Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) in collaboration with the Registry System for the Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) office organized a  weeklong information caravan in the municipalities of Alabat, Perez, and Quezon with the aim to inform the  public about the benefit of georeferencing and official registration of farmers, farmworkers, and fisherfolks in the RSBSA.

Held from November 20-24, 2023, the activity was spearheaded by RSBSA Alternate Focal Person, Suzette Panopio and SAAD Regional  IT and Database Development Unit Lead, John Carlo Narvacan. Joining the information caravan were representatives from the Agricultural Programs Coordinating Office of Quezon, Regional Banner Programs, Municipal Agriculturists, Barangay Officials, staff from RSBSA office, field implementers from SAAD CALABARZON, and 350 members of 14 farmers’ associations (FAs). 

In her introductory message, Ms.Panopio provided an overview of the registration process and highlighted the objectives of the caravan. “Lahat po ng inyong forms, bago man po o for updating ay dadalhin na po namin directly sa region, para po ito ay ma-encode na sa system at sa susunod na magkakaroon po ng instruction para sa specific na intervention ay makakasali na po kayo,” said Ms. Panopio.

(All of your forms, whether new or for updating, will be brought directly to the region. This is for encoding in the system, and in the next instance when there are instructions for a specific intervention, you will already be included.)

The caravan, which was organized into five stations, involves screening, verification, registration or the interview process, encoding and checking in the tracker, signing of signatories such as Municipal Agriculturists, Municipal Agricultural and Fisheries Council, or Brgy. Captain, and the verification and validation.

As of December 2023, the combined count of RSBSA-verified  farmers from Alabat, Perez, and Quezon was 137. There are also 85 farmers in the process of registration, and 47 others are for updating.

With this, the data gathered will be encoded in the SAAD Database system and will serve as the basis for selecting the eligible beneficiaries to receive intervention for the year 2024. ###

Writers: Nicole C. Zarsuelo, Jayvee Amir P. Ergino, Information Officer, SAAD CALABARZON