ENCOURAGING LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS (LGUS) TO ADOPT THE TECHNO GABAY IN THEIR AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PROGRAMS AND THE CONCERNED GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO PROVIDE THE REQUIRED ASSIST…

WHEREAS, the Constitution
mandates the State to encourage the widest participation of local
government units, private groups and community-based organizations in
the generation and utilization of science and technology, as well as
regulate the transfer and promote the adaptation of technology from all
sources for the national
benefit;

WHEREAS, in consonance
with the above constitutional mandate, and in adherence to the Local
Government Code of 1991, Local Government Units (LGUs) are now tasked
to provide extension delivery services, particularly in terms of food
production extension plans and
budgets;

WHEREAS, the Medium Term
Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) of 2004-2010, likewise specifically
provides that Local Government Units shall exert efforts to strengthen
and maximize the technology extension delivery modalities of the
Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources
Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology
(PCARRD-DOST), with emphasis on the Techno Gabay Program, and shall
consolidate the said program with similar extension models of other
agencies and bureaus;

WHEREAS,
the DOST and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), have
conceitedly resolved that the State Universities and Colleges (SUCs)
shall further support the LGUs’ agricultural development programs
anchored on the Techno Gabay Program
modalities;

WHEREAS, the
Department of Agriculture (DA), in Department Order No. 03, series of
2007, designated the Agricultural Training Institute (DA-ATI) as lead
agency for e-Extension services in agriculture, fisheries and natural
resources, in collaboration with other government agencies, SUCs and
concerned stakeholders;

WHEREAS,
the Techno Gabay Program, now on its tenth year, has established
Farmers Information Technology Services (FITS) centers nationwide,
majority of which are LGU-based, attesting to the program’s growing
grassroots presence and undisputedly seen as an important enhancement
of LGUs’ existing extension delivery
services;

WHEREAS, TGP’s
Performance and Impact Assessment Studies attested to the outstanding
viability of TGP modalities to lead to higher technical efficiency and
farm productivity and
profitability;

WHEREAS, TGP’s
stakeholders have expressed a continuing interest to sustain TGP
operations in the countryside and there is likewise a growing interest
among LGUs to adopt the said program;

NOW,
THEREFORE, I, GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, President of the
Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by
Law and the Constitution, do hereby encourage all Local Government
Units in the municipal and provincial levels to adopt the Techno Gabay
Program as an extension delivery services modality, and ordering the
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of
Agriculture (DA), Department of Science and Technology (DOST),
Commission on Higher Education – State Universities and Colleges
(CHED-SUCs) and other concerned agencies, as may be determined by the
Steering Committee and Technical Working Group to be created pursuant
to Section 5 hereof, to provide the required assistance for the
purpose.

SECTION 1. Scope and
Coverage – The Executive Order shall cover all local
government units where there are dominant agricultural areas, inclusive
of fishery and forestry and/or whose constituents derive livelihood
from farming activities such as urban agriculture and agriculture-based
pro-poor nutrition/livelihood programs. The Technical Working Group,
created under Section 5, hereof shall provide the criteria for
determining the towns and provinces, which shall be covered by this
Executive Order.

SECTION 2. Definition of
Terms – For purposes of this Executive Order, the following
terms or words and phrases shall mean or be understood as
follows:

1. Techno Gabay
   Program – a PCARRD-DOST initiative which serves as a platform
   for developing, testing, and promoting technology transfer and
   dissemination modalities through the networking of R&D
   institutions in the agriculture, forestry, and natural resources (AFNR)
   sectors, namely the Regional R&D consortia and other members of
   the National Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Network
   (NARRDN); LGUs, non-government organizations, core of Farmer Scientists
   or Magsasaka Siyentista, and other extension service providers, thereby
   enhancing technology utilization, adoption, and
   commercialization.

2. Farmers
   Information and Technology Services (FITS) or Techno Pinoy
   Center – serves as a one-stop service facility nearest to the
   majority of farmers, entrepreneurs and other clients in a given area.
   It provides fast access to information and technologies in forms
   appropriate to the clients’
   needs.

3. Magsasaka
   Siyentista – is an outstanding farmer who is successful in
   his/her use of S&T-based and indigenous technologies. The MS is
   a vital link in technologies developed in the laboratories and ultimate
   adoption in farmers’
   fields.

4. National
   Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Network
   (NARRDN) – an aggrupation of government and non-government
   institutions working on agriculture and natural resources research and
   development
   (R&D).

5. Regional
   Research and Development Consortia – refers to the PCARRD’s
   regional consortia for R&D tasked to facilitate coordination,
   planning, monitoring and evaluation of R&D activities and
   technology promotion and dissemination  at the
   regional  level. Each regional consortium has member agencies
   composed of state colleges and universities, government agencies, local
   government units and non-government institutions among
   others.

6. Information
   Education Communication (IEC) Strategies – involves
   research-and need-based communication processes aimed to hasten
   adoption of technologies by FITS and MS
   clients.

7. Information
   and Communications Technology (ICT) – a diverse set of
   technological tools and resources used to create, store, communicate,
   disseminate and manage
   information.

8. e-Extension
   service – the electronic delivery of extension service thru a
   network of institutions that provide a more efficient alternative to a
   traditional extension system for agriculture, fisheries and natural
   resources
   sectors.

9. e-Learning
   courses – interactive electronic learning modules especially
   designed for agricultural extension workers, enterprising farmers and
   fisherfolks and other
   stakeholders.

SECTION 3.
Institutional Arrangements – This Executive Order shall be
implemented observing the following operational scheme between and
among the concerned
agencies:

PCARRD-DOST
shall:

1. Provide the overall
   direction within the framework of the existing Techno Gabay Program, in
   coordination with its regional consortia partner member agencies and
   the DA-ATI;
2. Conduct necessary pre-project
   consultations and planning
   activities;
3. Provide or facilitate the
   conduct of training programs for the efficient and effective operation
   of the Techno Pinoy centers;
4. Provide
   technology/information through Information  Education and
   Communication (IEC) materials for the Techno
   Pinoy;
5. Link scientific community, the
   researchers and the agricultural experts from the National Agriculture
   and Resources Research and Development Network (NARRDN);
   and
6. Monitor and evaluate the
   implementation of the program at the national
   level.

DA-Agricultural Training
Institute (ATI) shall:

1. Link DA’s Extension Program to the extension
   delivery modalities under the Techno Gabay Program, extension program
   of SUCs, LGUs and other agencies;
2. Provide
   access to online data-bases of DA on e-Learning courses and other
   agricultural information; and
3. Complement
   manpower and logistic support in the conduct of trainings and education
   of LGU personnel that will be involved in this joint
   undertaking.

Regional Research
and Development Consortia shall:

1. Coordinate with LGUs regarding the implementation
   of the Techno Gabay Program in the
   municipality;
2. Conduct/facilitate
   trainings in various areas like ICT, IEC development, skills training
   and other related training for the efficient and effective operation of
   the center;
3. Provide guidance in the
   implementation of the FITS; and
4. Monitor
   the implementation of Techno Gabay Program at the regional
   level.

LGUs are
encouraged to:

1. Appoint/ designate
   the manpower need by the
   center;
2. Collaborate with the DA and other
   concerned agencies in planning technology delivery activities in line
   with the agriculture development program of the
   municipality;
3. Provide seed money for the
   establishment and maintenance of the FITS
   center;
4. Provide the site/office for FITS
   establishment in the area and purchase equipment and fixtures, supplies
   necessary to operate the center; and Make available its staff to manage
   the project.

SECTION 4.
Funding – All local government units covered by this
Executive Order are encouraged to allocate funds from their respective
budgets to cover the program’s physical, human, and financial
requirements.

Supplemental budgets may also be
sourced by the concerned LGU from contributions of public and private
institutions involved in the program.

Fund
utilization and disbursement shall be subject to the usual government
accounting and auditing rules and
regulations.

SECTION 5. Implementing Rules
and Regulations – The PCARRD-DOST, with the active
participation of selected CHED-SUCs, DA, DA-ATI and LGUs, shall call
for the creation of a Steering Committee and a Technical Working
Committee that shall formulate the Implementing Rules and Regulations
(IRR) for the effective implementation of this Executive
Order.

SECTION 6. Separability
Clause – If any section or provision of this Executive Order
shall be declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or
provision not affected thereby shall remain in full force and
effect.

SECTION 7. Repealing
Clause – All Executive Orders, Rules and Regulations or parts
thereof contrary to or inconsistent with this Executive Order are
hereby repealed or modified
accordingly.

SECTION 8. Effectivity
Clause – The EO shall take effect
immediately.

DONE in the city of
Manila, this 14th day of May, in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand and
Nine.

By the
President:

(Sgd.) EDUARDO R.
ERMITA
Executive
Secretary