FLORIDABLANCA – Governor Lilia “Nanay” Pineda together with former president now second district Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo led the launching of Season-long Training on Vegetable Production for the Indigenous People (IPs) Wednesday morning at Floridablanca National Agricultural School (FNAS) here.
The provincial government partnered with Allied Botanical Corporation, a leading supplier of seedlings in the Philippines, Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) and the Department of Agriculture to conduct a 12-day training and actualization of modern farming for Aeta farmers.
According to OPA Officer Ed Salenga, the Aeta participants will undergo trainings every Friday for 12 months on how to plant high-value crops by using modern methods like greenhouse planting, proper soil conditioning, crop planning and more.
Congresswoman Arroyo lauded Governor Pineda’s initiative for the Aeta community in connection with Republic Act No. 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997.
She added that the trainings will help them in earning more compared to their present farming practices.
“It is rightful to use your ancestral domain in better farming which will lead to better income,” she said.
Governor Pineda revealed to the Aetas that she came up with the training program because of the present situation of their farming practices.
She proposed that the provincial government will buy the produce of Aeta farmers for the food consumption of the inmates at Pampanga Provincial Jail, eleven district and provincial hospitals, and other institutions in the province.
“You won’t have to borrow your capital and seedlings anymore from others because the Capitol will help you,” she added.
She also presented the proposed four-classroom school building to Mrs. Corazon T. Ayson, school administrator of FNAS, which also has an office and auditorium for big events. The proposed school building will amount to approximately P10-million, including the furnishings and necessary equipment.
Ayson emotionally thanked Governor Pineda and Congresswoman Arroyo for gracing the school activity and for giving them such needed projects for the betterment of their students and for the Aeta community.
-PHILIP OCAMPO
(PHOTOS BY JUN JASO/PIO)
