By Niña Allyn Rose Amase
CPU Outreach Students’ Volunteers Society (CPU-OSVS) volunteers, GRADBARBA farmer beneficiaries led by their President Antonio Joven Suñe, and resource speaker Engr. John Patrick Casipe gather for a group photo during the “AgriCare” agricultural outreach program at Brgy. Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City.
The CPU Outreach Students’ Volunteers Society (CPU-OSVS), under the Environmental Committee and Community & Livelihood Committee, successfully conducted an agricultural outreach program dubbed “AgriCARE: Empowering Farmers Through Support and Education” last May 30, 2026.
The event was held at the Farmer’s Headquarters, Zone 6, Brgy. Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City, with the Grasya sa Duta sa Brgy. Bito-on Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (GRADBARBA) serving as the main beneficiary of the project.
AgriCare is an initiative aimed to develop and support the potential of local agricultural heroes by strengthening their understanding of modern sustainable farming, pest mitigation, and resource management. The program gathered community participants, notably the local farmers and assembly members of the GRADBARBA association, led by their President, Mr. Antonio Joven Suñe. The activity and seminar wanted to inspire the agricultural sector to continue their essential role in community development while also enhancing their proactive and sustainable farming practices.
The outreach program consisted of various activities designed to encourage the collaboration of community ideas and provide essential support to the farmers. This included an educational discussion by the resource speaker Engr. John Patrick Casipe—General Manager and Board Director of the Ina Farmers Learning Site and Agri-Farm Inc., and a part-time instructor at Central Philippine University—centered on Integrated Pest Management, followed by an open forum about the local and national situation of the agricultural sector. The event concluded with a client satisfaction assessment and a distribution program that provided farming boots, farming hats, and hygiene kits directly to the beneficiaries.
Ultimately, this immersion highlights a broader reality: as the Philippine agricultural sector faces a shortage of support alongside environmental and resource management challenges, local food security is directly impacted—particularly for small farmers who, as tackled by the resource speaker, are steadily aging. While this unified initiative by the CPU-OSVS is highly significant, it alone cannot suffice as a complete solution to the deep-seated, long-standing problems faced by those collectively called the backbone of the country.