DAR, UEP to sign MOA for assessment of Samar Island ARBs’ needs

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
March 20, 2012

CATARMAN, Northern Samar  –  Top officials of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Region-8 and the University of Eastern Philippines (UEP) are set to sign on March 26, a Memorandum of Agreement for the benefit of the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs)  in the three Samar Provinces.

DAR Region 8 Director Eliasem Castillo disclosed that in the agreement, DAR will provide the funding while UEP will conduct the needs and design assessments among the identified ARB organizations in the provinces of Samar, Northern Samar and Eastern Samar under the Agrarian Reform Community Connectivity and Economic Support Services (ARCCESS) project.

In the recent meeting held to finalize the contents of the MOA, UEP President Dr. Mar P. de Asis said that aside from providing quality education to students in this province, they are also proud to be a service provider under its extension program.

Under ARCCESS, DAR will assist identified ARB organizations by providing the necessary machineries as the latter venture into agribusiness, Mr. Jose Alsmith Soria, DAR Information chief, said.

To effectively implement this project, DAR ties up with professional service providers (PSPs) that could lend their expertise such as State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), Mr. Soria added.

Meanwhile, DAR Regional Director Castillo disclosed that under the MOA, UEP will assess five (5) ARB organizations in Northern Samar; four (4) in Samar; and three (3) in Eastern Samar.

He added that all these ARB organizations are into rice production except for the two (2) organizations in Samar which will venture in organic vegetable production.