DOST-PCAARRD holds its 10th anniversary celebration, titled “Harnessing the gains of GALING-PCAARRD towards a more resilient AANR sector” which also highlights the conferment of the Council’s S&T Awards and Recognition. It will be held virtually on November 29, 2021 via DOST-PCAARRD’s Facebook page.
By Victoria “NIKE” De Dios
There is no denying that the pandemic has crippled down many companies, organizations, and institutions in the country including the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) since it hit our country for almost two years now.
Much as it tries, the government is still struggling to enforce policies that strike the perfect balance between lives and livelihood that has created havoc and this is evident as more than 50 percent of the MSMEs have closed down. Even the tourism industry was badly hit and are just slowly recovering now in the light of the recent downgrade of community quarantine alert level and the curbing of travel restrictions.
While we know that there’s no perfect way to handle this extraordinary situation which, by all indications, is beyond our control. But we cannot embrace a defeatist attitude. A strong mindset that treads against the worst-case scenario is what Filipino resiliency is all about.
This is what the team from DOST (DOST-PCAARRD) learned during the time they were battling with the pandemic and its adverse effect on various organizations, including the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the DOST (DOST-PCAARRD) adapt and persevere despite the pandemic.
Consistent to the true Filipino bayanihan spirit, DOST-PCAARRD has continued timely delivery of its services, served various communities, and addressed the challenges in the agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources (AANR) sector. In its second year dealing with the pandemic and celebrating its first decade in servicing the Filipinos, the Council is proud to share its many accomplishments for the past year.
These accomplishments are bannered in DOST-PCAARRD’s 10th anniversary celebration themed, “Harnessing the gains of GALING-PCAARRD towards a more resilient AANR sector,” which also highlights the conferment of the Council’s S&T Awards and Recognition. It will be held virtually on November 29, 2021 via DOST-PCAARRD’s Facebook page.
“Navigating through the challenges brought by the pandemic, we remain committed in addressing the various challenges in the AANR sector. We have ensured the gradual and safe return to office of our employees, the continuity and timely delivery of services, while serving various communities – true to the Filipino bayanihan spirit,” said Dr. Reynaldo V. Ebora, DOST-PCAARRD Executive Director.
Among those that will be conferred are the Ulat SIPAG Award, Best R&D Papers, and Dr. Elvira O. Tan Award.
Ulat SIPAG Award recognizes the past year’s accomplishments of the media in communicating the Council’s Industry Strategic S&T Programs or ISPs. This year, the Award will confer winners of the national print and broadcast as well as of the regional print and broadcast categories.
Researchers’ outstanding R&D outputs are recognized in the Best Research and Best Development Paper categories. The Research category includes outputs from the conduct of fundamental or basic research, applied research, experimental development, and/or pilot tests. Meanwhile, the Development category includes output of systematic work in applying and/or adopting new knowledge and information, technology, products, processes, systems, services, machines, and equipment gained from research and/or practical experiences or best practices. Six papers will be recognized this year.
The Dr. Elvira O. Tan Award, honors scientists and researchers for their papers published in International Scientific Indexing (ISI)-accredited local and/or international journals within the last five years. This year, three papers will be recognized.
Aside from the awards, scholars of the Graduate Research and Education Assistantship for Technology (GREAT) program will be recognized.
Two initiatives of the Council – the Knowledge Management for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources System (KM4AANR) and the GALING-PCAARRD Program in the new normal will be launched during the virtual event.
The year 2022 will also mark another milestone of the Council as it celebrates its golden year from the establishment of the Philippine Council for Agricultural Research (PCAR) on November 10, 1972.
For more information about the event, go to https://facebook.com/pcaarrd, join the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1086511592160554, and register at: https://bit.ly/STawards2021Reg.