Naga hosts national summit for agriculturists, librarians

NAGA CITY --- Agriculturists came to this city last July 17 for the 5th National Congress and 2017 Philippine Agriculturists Summit at Villa Caceres Hotel here, with Sen. Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Food and Agriculture, as guest of honor and speaker. Naga City Mayor John G. Bongat welcomed the participants who tackled during the whole day summit the theme, “Enhancing the agriculture profession towards a resilient and sustainable agriculture in the global economy.” President Arthur R. Baria of the Philippine Association of Agriculturists, Inc. said the summit aimed to provide its members the venue to discuss issues and updates on the agriculture profession, as well as cross-cutting technologies on resilience and sustainability to increase food security, competitiveness and product safety in the light of the ASEAN regional integration. In his brief remarks, Bongat mentioned at least four objectives that the Naga City Agriculture Office has been pursuing in enhancing urban agriculture and productivity. These are to provide technical assistance to farmers via improved crop production technology, with emphasis on low cost production techniques; to increase the production of grains (rice and corn) and other food crops within the key production areas; to enhance the productivity and increase farm incomes through a diversified livelihoods approach, and; to promote organic farming techniques to increase agricultural sustainability. Also this week, the three-day 4th International Conference on Child and Yong Adulthood Librarianship was opened Wednesday, July 19, also at Villa Caceres with Mayor Bongat welcoming the guests. Spearheaded by the National Library of the Philippines, the conference seeks to highlight the importance of stakeholders engaging in information access and libraries as a vital means of developing reading culture, bring together stakeholders, and influence decision-making process for the enrichment and expansion of access to information. It also aims to advocate the important role of libraries for children and young adults. Meanwhile, the city mayor on Friday, July 21, will keynote the joint general membership conference and induction of officers of the Camarines Sur chapters of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) and the Association of Local Government Accountants (ALGA) at La Piazza Hall, Avenue Plaza Hotel here. The twin event, according to outgoing PICPA Camarines Sur Chapter President Maria Lourdes Terbio, is coincidentally a culminating activity of the Annual Accountancy Week which is being celebrated nationwide. Accountants, both from the private and public sectors from the cities of Naga and Iriga and the whole province of Camarines Sur, have come to join and participate in the celebration of the important event.