Believing that no one should be left in development, DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano “Dinky” Soliman uttered these words – “walang maiiwan sa kaunlaran ! “ , during the launching of the AGRIKULTURANG PANTAWID PAMILYANG PILIPINO PROGRAM held Monday, Dec. 12, in Las Navas, Northern Samar. Further, she underscored the agency’s need for continuous “pakikipag-ugnayan” (linking and converging with other entities like the Department of Agriculture (DA). Hence, the birth of the cooperation program for PANTAWID PAMILYANG PILIPINO PROGRAM (PANTAWID PAMILYA) beneficiaries who are engaged in the production of coconut, rice, corn and sugar, and those who live in other agricultural areas in the countryside as well as coastal communities.

Why the program is initially implemented in the region ? Las Navas is located within the Catubig Valley area, “one of the best agricultural resource in Eastern Visayas,” as DA Secretary Alcala puts it.

Above photos show the activities highlighting the launching (counterclockwise) – The signing of the memorandum of agreement between the two Department heads, with Provincial Governor Paul Daza of Northern Samar, Catubig Mayor Minda Tan, second congressional district representative Emil Ong, and Board Member Albert Lucero as witnesses. Standing in yellow is DSWD Regional Director Leticia Diokno; Secretary Dinky congratulates the farmers, part of the 360 beneficiaries of the program, after they were awarded hand tractors, agricultural tools to aid them in increasing their productivity and guaranteeing them of sustained livelihood, courtesy of the D A; The Secretary landed in Barangay San Isidro, one of the potential agricultural sites for development, after an aerial survey; She talks to a member of the Irrigators Association organized by the National Irrigation Association who says : “You are giving us hope; we will no longer fear of living a lifetime of poverty.”; The 4,500 – hectare Catubig Valley (covering the towns of Catubig, Las Navas, Laoang, San Roque, and Pambujan, has but 300 hectares of irrigated ricelands located in Las Navas. These are some of the beneficiaries included under Phase 1 – from barangays San Isidro, Dapdap, Del Pilar, Hangi, and Tag-ibiran. The program hopes to increase the number of beneficiaries to 1,660, under its Phase two implementation; These are the paddy dikes which construction has employed PANTAWID PAMILYA beneficiaries thru the Department’s cash-for-work program.