NEWSFLASH
NUEVA ECIJA SITE TO BE RP'S 1ST AGRI-SCIENCE CITY
Manila, March 25, 2000 - Local officials of Nueva Ecija have pledged their commitment to the farm modernization program of President Joseph "Erap" Ejercito Estrada, as they stressed that their bid to make a key site in the province as the country's first agriculture science city would be a solid step towards achieving food security.
Nueva Ecija officials led by Mayor Efren Alvarez of Muñoz promised to make solid contributions to the government’s agricultural modernization efforts.
Alvarez also expressed high hopes that the bid to make Muñoz an agriculture science city would gain similar support in the Senate.
In transforming Muñoz into the country's first agri-science city, the Estrada administration plans to pour government resources and tap private-sector funding in research and development programs at the site.
Food security is one of the President’s five centerpiece programs, alongside mass housing, peace and order, the fight against graft and corruption, and electoral reforms.
In his visit last week to Nueva Ecija, the President launched seven new Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs).
The new ARCs launched in Nueva Ecija were those in the towns of Licab, Muñoz, Pantabangan, Nampicuan, Guimba, Quezon and Sto. Domingo.
The President also announced that Nueva Ecija was one of the areas evaluated by the DAR and the Asian Development Bank to be included in the Agrarian Reform Community Project or ARCP.
The ARCP, according to the President, is aimed at increasing agricultural production, improving the income of its beneficiaries and their quality of life through the setting up of 1,200 ARCs nationwide.
The President said the inclusion of Nueva Ecija in the ARCP would mean the infusion of fresh funding of P7 billion to develop its ARCs.
Nueva Ecija accounts for 17 of the total number of ARCs nationwide, according to Mr. Estrada.
The President also said the government has provided Nueva Ecija with infrastructure projects including post-harvest facilities such as a solar dryer, mechanical dryer, warehouse and rice mill.
During his visit, the President also vowed to back more research programs for carabao-related enterprises, adding that he expects the province to become the country's carabao milk capital.
The President, who led the groundbreaking rites for the research center of the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) in the province, said such enterprises would boost both the health and incomes of farmers.
Mr. Estrada, who as a senator paved the way for the establishment of the PCC in 1992, added the carabao may still hold many untapped potentials that can benefit farmers.
He noted the PCC presently aims to establish a program that would make carabao milk a viable product for the global market.
As of now, he pointed out, 43 cooperatives are helping the PCC to start the carabao-milking program.
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