OIC-Regional Executive Director Carlene C. Collado of the Department of Agriculture – Region 10 modestly observed the DA’s 122nd founding year by holding the annual employees’ medical check-up inside its compound in Antonio Luna St., Cagayan de Oro City on June 23, 2020.

Following IATF guidelines, safety protocols were strictly imposed as 188 DA-10 employees underwent medical evaluation in DA’s regional office.

“Because we are all invested in our duties as frontliners, we might have sidelined our health. As we face this pandemic, we need to see to it our employees are healthy so that they can carry out their functions effectively” Director Collado said, substantiating the agency’s milestone by advocating its employees’ health.

The initiative is material to DA’s 122nd anniversary theme – ‘Agrikultura ang Pag-asa sa Kabila ng Pandemya’.

While coping with the new normal, DA-10 takes pride in Northern Mindanao’s agriculture vibrancy.

Notwithstanding the crisis, the region’s agriculture sectors remain resilient and productive, supplying major agri-fishery commodities to other regions in Mindanao, including Luzon and Visayas regions.

“Food security is, and will always be, our main priority as we strive to attain our goals of masaganang ani and mataas na kita for our farmers in the region. With the interventions and assistance we provided our clientele, I am certain we will soar high in our pursuit of attaining our objectives” Regional Technical Director for Operations, Carlota S. Madriaga accounted.

The director underscored the agency’s effort in capacitating the region’s farmers and fisherfolk to cushion their ways of coping with the COVID-19 crisis, providing them numerous enabling agricultural interventions.

“We need to be proactive as we are heading towards new normal in agriculture. We have to be ready and grounded as we stretch our services, reaching out the unserved agriculture sectors in the region” Director Madriaga stressed.

Noting agriculture’s indispensability especially in times of crisis, Director Collado urge the region’s populace to engage themselves in backyard or urban gardening.

“With or without the pandemic, we need to grow our own food. Food security should start from home. By producing our own food, our family is assured of safe food, we can save our hard- earned income, and teach our children the importance of agriculture at an early age,” Collado emphasized.

Moving onwards, the director challenged DA-10 employees to live up to their duties as the region’s food security frontliners.

“We have crucial role in the country’s battle against the pandemic. With this I am prompting all DA-10 employees to stay safe!”# (ATalib)