Gearing towards accomplishing key activities for the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF), the Partnership Development Division (PDD) conducted its annual operational meeting on March 6-7, 2019 in Orani, Bataan.

The two-day gathering focused on improving the division’s accomplishment by presenting deliverables and strategies and refining the responsibilities of regional-based coordinators. PDD Chief Elgie Namia led the assembly and discussed the overview of the activity.

Also invited were Estrella Tulay, Chief of Planning, Monitoring and Knowledge Management Division (PMKMD), who discussed the policy agenda setting and policy process cycle and Julieta Opulencia, Chief of Policy Development and Coordination Division (PDCD), who presented the results of policy agenda setting by the National Sectoral and Strategic Concerns Committees (NSSCC), respectively.

Roles and responsibilities of PCAF-PDD regional-based coordinators

Prior to the orientation of the roles and responsibilities, four new regional-based coordinators were introduced. They were Stephanie Cabauatan of Cagayan Valley Region, Ramil Navales of Bicol Region, Romielle Lorelei Delmonte and Denard Samson Tuyo of Western Visayas Region.

Among the responsibilities of regional-based coordinators highlighted are: to assist in the orientations of newly-recruited members of the Agricultural and Fishery Council (AFC) and the incoming AFC election later this year.

The PMKMD Chief emphasized in her presentation that PDD regional-based coordinators as well as national-based technical staff must conduct research and analysis of the issues identified prior to consultations to come up with sound policy recommendations.  

Meanwhile, PDCD Chief Opulencia provided all national and regional-based coordinators a copy of the result of policy agenda setting accomplished by the NSSCC members. This will be used as reference for the AFC-led consultations and sectoral meetings.

 Recommendations for 2019 targets and deliverables

For the Capacity Development Section (CDS), Chief Arsenia Perez cited that two trainings are scheduled to be facilitated this year. These are the Competency Advancement on Policy-making and Engagement for AFC (AFC-CAPE) and the Gender-based Effectiveness Skills Training (GBEST).

Targeted participants for the said trainings, the Provincial AFC. Regional-based coordinators were instructed to submit in advance the list of possible trainees to ensure trainees’ attendance and maximize resources. Impact evaluation of trainings was also recommended by the body.

For the Volunteer Management Section (VMS), Chief Conchita del Rosario emphasized full assistance and coordination of regional-based coordinators in terms of facilitating the AFC’s recruitment and electoral process during the orientations of new AFC members and elections of AFC officers.

As recommended, the VMS will facilitate the creation of electoral board, craft an AFC primer with frequently-asked questions about AFC election. Regional-based coordinators were likewise encouraged to submit their respective Regional AFC (RAFC) resolutions endorsing membership of new AFC recruits.

For the SMS, Chief Floreliz Avellana challenged both the national and regional-based coordinators for a timely submission of accomplishment reports regarding their respective activities. Documents supporting the conduct of consultations, meetings and the endorsement or approval of policy resolutions must be submitted as soon as possible.

PDCD Chief Opulencia also informed the PDD coordinators that NSSCC chairpersons will be attending the RAFC sectoral meetings to present and give updates on sectoral issues. This was in response to the clamor of AFC sectoral chairpersons attending the NSSCC meetings for their counterparts in the sectoral committees to attend RAFC meetings as well.

Strategies to improve accomplishment

Despite achieving a 100% accomplishment last year, adoption rate of policy recommendations posed as the biggest challenge for the division. As mentioned by PMKMD Chief Tulay, research and analysis of identified issue will result to higher chances in policy adoption.  

The operational meeting introduced strategic activities to consistently reach the 100% accomplishment. Among the activities introduced were the Data Banking and Sharing (DBS), crafting a Policy Brief, presentation of PCAF’s Quality Management System (QMS) and the Kapatid Agri Mentor Me Program (KAMMP).

Patrishia Joy Reytana, SMS Ilocos Region Coordinator, discussed the DBS which aims to provide easier access on data accomplishment tracker from the region to the national level. The system offers larger and efficient storage of necessary files where coordinators can work simultaneously.

Afterwards, Jerace Espinola, SMS CALABARZON Coordinator, presented sample of policy brief she did for the AFC. She gave her fellow coordinators tips in making a policy brief that would help the AFC in crafting a policy resolution.  

The PCAF QMS was presented by Engr. Charmine Joy Esta, SMS Visayas Cluster Head. She highlighted the PDD’s quality procedures and objectives to apprise coordinators of the key activities and processes of the division. Engr. Esta also discussed SMS quality procedures and objectives while Alvin Racho, VMS Visayas Cluster Coordinator, and Cristopher Dela Rosa, CDS Technical Staff, explained the VMS and the CDS, respectively.

Then, Charlene Mariquit, SMS Northern Mindanao Region Coordinator, shared about KAMMP, a joint program of the DA and the PCE-GO Negosyo aimed to sustain and scale-up agribusiness in the country. It will then be presented to the AFCs for capability trainings other related activities.

To top it all, Cindy Rose Apostol, SMS Davao Region Coordinator, discussed the Strategic Performance Monitoring System (SPMS). SPMS is a mechanism, introduced by the Civil Service Commission, linking employee performance with the organizational performance.

Apostol also presented elements and stages of SPMS, major final output, performance measures and targets, rating scale and SPMS framework for the SMS. On the other hand, Racho presented for the VMS and Engr. Reynaldo Villanueva, Jr. for the CDS.-JD