Cabatuan City, Nueva Vizcaya — In response to the government’s call to optimize the operation of various food terminals, the DTI R2 Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Office, DTI R3 Nueva Ecija Provincial Office, Department of Agriculture – Nueva Vizcaya Experiment Station (DA-NVES), and the Local Government Unit of Cabanatuan City held a benchmarking mission at the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal (NVAT) Inc. on 27 May 2024.

The visit aims to help Region 3 gain insights and learn the best practices of NVAT operators and farmers in preparation for the onboarding of Cabanatuan’s City Sangitan Bagsakan Terminal farmers to an online market platform like that of the NVAT Fresh Online.

In his message, General Manager Gilbert Cumila expressed his gratitude to the LGU Cabanatuan City for choosing NVAT as their partner for growth and development.

Meanwhile, DTI R2 Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Director Atty. Michael B. Paggabao represented by CTIDS Lenore Lee S. Lopez, DTI R3 Nueva Ecija Provincial Director Dr. Richard Simangan, and DA-NVES Station Manager Arsenio M. Apostol Jr. represented by Ms. Josephine Bernardino, affirmed their respective office’s full support to the said initiative through the provision of relevant and necessary technical assistance.

After the messages, the NVAT Team presented their brief background, as well as that of the NVAT Fresh Online Platform. The DA NVES also discussed the interventions provided to the said organization.

Thereafter, a tour of some of NVAT’s major facilities like the Marketing Center, Fresh Depot Solar Cold Storage, Rise Up Against Hunger Facility, and Juice Processing Facility was held.

 Mr. Ronnie Punzal, Head of the Cabanatuan City Economic and Enterprise Management Office (CEEMO), thanked the hosts for the learnings they gained from the visit which will contribute greatly to the success of their food terminal’s digitalization.

Also present in the said activity were CTIDS Rowena F. Mayangat and TIDS Silvester Miguel of DTI R2 Nueva Vizcaya; TIDS Teresita Evangelista of DTI R3 Nueva Ecija; and other staff of DA-NVES and the Cabanatuan CEEMO. ♦

Date of release: 03 July 2024