A local government official led farmers in Misamis Oriental in expressing their gratitude to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for the government’s support to the agricultural sector.
“Let me express my deep appreciation for him to come to Balingasag despite his very busy schedule. Despite the noise going around, he’s still focused. That’s character. And I would like to thank him for that,” said Mayor Alexis Quina, of Balingasag, Misamis Oriental.
“And with his project in place in Balingasag, we are very, very optimistic to have a bright future for our people, not only for Balingasag, but for the province as well. So maraming, maraming salamat po, Mr. President!,” Quina added.
President Marcos led the launching and turnover of agricultural support to farmers in Barangay San Isidro, Balingasag on Tuesday.
Farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) and local government units (LGUs) from Cagayan de Oro City and Misamis Oriental received various agricultural interventions from the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office 10 and its attached agency, the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (DA-PHilMech), and from a public-private partnership focused on accelerating the development of the coconut industry.
Quina said the assistance given is among Chief Executive’s legacy projects.
“And Balingasag is very, very grateful. This will help us a lot in terms of revenue generation, employment, livelihood, especially for our coconut farmers. This is a very, very good project, and we are forever grateful to the President,” Quina said.
For his part, farmer beneficiary Neri Cagaanan, 53, chairman of the Salay Farmers Agriculture Cooperative, also thanked President Marcos on behalf of the farmers.
“Una po, malaking pasasalamat namin dito sa Misamis Oriental. Nabigyan po kami ng magandang facilities. Ito po yung first time na nangyari po (ito) sa Mindanao para po sa pagpapaunlad sa system po sa agriculture, especially sa coconut,” he said.
“Itong project na ito, magbibigay ng mas mataas na kita sa farmers. Nandoon na processing sa system, sa juice, at lahat, lahat na po. Pati na po na gagawin na fertilizer. Sa ating mahal na Presidente maraming salamat po. Two years ago po nag-groundbreaking at natuloy na ngayon,” he added.
The cooperative handles farms planted with coconut, rice, and high value crops. | PND
