LGU Tagum civil servants win CSC Pagasa awards
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte conferred upon ten employees of Tagum City the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Pagasa Award (Group Category) in a ceremony at the Palace for their trailblazing and innovative programs that have benefited farmers and fisherfolk.
Civil servants from the City Agriculture Office (CAGRO) and the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) bagged the Pagasa award, said to be the highest prize for government workers in the Philippines.
CAGRO was recognized for its Tagumpay Agrivolving Fund “for conceptualizing and offering the agri-volving fund, an easy access credit facility that has broken the oppressive cycle of debt that has beset Tagum City farmers.”
The CSC noted that “the initiative has spurred financial literacy among farmers,” adding that “from a starting fund of Php 3 Million in 2016, the program has doubled the funds dedicated to farmers’ needs.”
CAGRO’s team who received the award were Joel Marcelo de Leon, Emiliano Dakingking, Jr., Jul-Mar Liong, Renante Sabanal, and Jerson Sobrevilla.
The CENRO, meanwhile, was also recognized for “breakthrough programs in marine ecosystem protection, conservation and management” through its Integrated Management and Sustainable Environmental Approach to Coastal and Underwater Resources (I’m SEACURe).
The jury assembled by the CSC was impressed with the program’s implementation since it resulted to the increase of fish biomass at 34 metric tons per square kilometers, the highest in the entire Davao Gulf, as validated by a study by the University of the Philippines.
According to the CSC, the initiatives of CENRO — which included the establishment of a fish sanctuary, installation of artificial coral reefs, desiltation of rivers and waterways, and restoration of mangroves — resulted to an improved socio-economic status of marginalized fisherfolks through increased fish catch as evidenced by a 100% fish haul in 2018 at 600 metric tons.
Making this possible is the team composed of CENRO Department Head Engr. Vivian Bahalla, along with division chiefs Analyn Piñero, Ronnie Senangote, Cicero Tiamson, and Nonito dela Torre.
Respective groups received a plaque and individual members received a goldgilded medallion designed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and 100,000 pesos cash prize.
Mayor Allan Rellon, himself a Presidential Lingkod Bayan Awardee in 2017, congratulated all the awardees who he said “provides a shining example of the brand of service that LGU employees gives to the public.”
The conferment of the awards in Malacanang, the conclusion of the months-long search for outstanding government officials and employees through the CSC’s Honor Awards Program, highlighted the celebration of the 119thanniversary of the Philippine Civil Service. Louie Lapat/CIO Tagum