As planning and budgeting cycle commences, the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) conducted an Areawide Participatory Planning Workshop aimed to hear the voices of local partners in the development of agri-fisheries sector.
Almost a hundred stakeholders of the Agricultural and Fishery Council (AFC) from the Mindanao A cluster attended the event on Aug. 15-17, 2018 at Cagayan de Oro City. AFC Chairpersons and Coordinators in the regional, provincial, city, and municipal levels were the participants.
Starting off the activity, Estrella Tulay, Chief of Planning, Monitoring and Knowledge Management Division (PMKMD), presented the overview and expected output of the workshop. PMKMD Chief Tulay emphasized that participatory planning is an effective way of identifying new opportunities and strategies in achieving desired targets.
In addition, Soledad Bernardo, Assistant Division Chief of Partnership Development Division, highlighted the previous two-year accomplishments of AFC per region, province, city and municipality in terms of the number of consultations/meetings conducted and policy resolutions endorsed.
Three creative workshops comprised the event proper. Volunteer-partners were then grouped according to their regional affiliations and were oriented on the first creative activity entitled rich picture.
The rich picture strategy allowed the participants to illustrate the issues/gaps and challenges that hamper the AFC operations and performance through visual sketches. The groups were also tasked to identify strategies and needed support to address these issues.
On the following day, Engr. Jose Redentor Beseño, Chief of the Budget Section discussed the updates on budget reforms highlighting the shift from obligation-based to cash-based budgeting.
Afterwards, PMKMD Chief Tulay presented the PCAF strategic framework emphasizing the outcomes and strategic initiatives related to the AFC operations and functions.
Given the identified issues and concerns, updates on the government reforms on budget and the strategic plans of PCAF, a “strategy café” was introduced to participants as guide in planning their activities.
Through the strategy café, all groups were encouraged to single-out new programs and priority activities for the AFC. Budget estimates and fund source were also included in the group’s output.
The new programs and strategies identified by the AFCs will be considered in the finalization of PCAF’s strategic plan and it may be included under the agency’s Tier 2 budget proposal.
Moreover, PMKMD OIC-Assistant Division Chief Cleofas Ventic presented the FY 2019 approved plan and budget of the agency based on the national expenditure program. Next year’s target for the AFCs’ regular and sectoral meetings/consultations and other related activities were also discussed for the information of concerned stakeholders.
Capping off the workshop, the AFC Chairpersons and Coordinators plotted all of their scheduled activities on a calendar provided based on the 2019 targets. Evasion of simultaneous and overlapping of activities were the ultimate objective of having a monthly schedule especially if PCAF’s presence is needed.
The participatory planning workshop was a pilot activity of the Planning and Programming Section under PMKMD and will cover AFCs nationwide. The cluster is composed of three regions; Region IX-Zamboanga Peninsula, Region X-Northern Mindanao, the host region, and Region XIII-CARAGA.
The next schedule will be participated by the Mindanao B cluster followed by the Visayas and then the Luzon A and B clusters. – JD
