Gawad Saka NTC Chairperson Director Clarito Barron presents the guidelines for the Outstanding Rice Farmer category.
QUEZON CITY, Metro Manila—To come up with a more relevant and objective search, the Gawad Saka committees convened to refine the guidelines in the selection and awarding of achievers in agriculture and fisheries.
A total of 65 regional coordinators, National Technical Committee (NTC) chairpersons, and staff of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) who serve as the national secretariat for the Search gathered for an entire day of workshop for the new guidelines.
NTC Chairpersons of the 23 categories led the review of the guidelines for the comments and suggestions of the participants.
During the opening program, ATI Partnerships and Accreditation Division Chief and Gawad Saka NTC Chairperson Renato Dela Cruz emphasized that the continued efforts of the Gawad Saka committees are a manifestation in further sustaining the credibility of the Search.
“The selection of the board of judges will surely not be easy as we know how much work is being put into each entry. There is always a valuable story behind each nominee; stories that are worth writing about and being published to serve as inspiration to the public especially the youth,” Dela Cruz said.
Dela Cruz also assured the ATI’s support to this annual Search of the Department of Agriculture (DA), “The ATI will continue to support Gawad Saka. We will continue to listen and commit with passion.”
Results of the workshop will be presented to DA Undersecretary for Operations and Gawad Saka National Executive Committee Chairperson Ariel Cayanan on April 11, 2018. The committees are set to adopt the revised guidelines by 2019.
Moreover, the Gawad Saka National Secretariat announced that the postponed awarding ceremony for the 2017 winners will now be held on April 5, 2018 at the Malacañang Complex simultaneously with the celebration of “Malinis at Masaganang Karagatan 2017” of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. These back-to-back events will be dubbed as the “Awarding of the Outstanding Farmers, Fisherfolk, and Coastal Communities: The Gawad Saka 2017 and Malinis at Masaganang Karagatan 2017.”
The workshop for the revision of the Gawad Saka guidelines was held on March 14, 2018 at the Eurotel North EDSA in this city.