Mariano Marcos
State University

PCC, MMSU sign 25-year agreement on carabao, livestock dev’t initiative

By Benedict Jay Collado
 

The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) and Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) officially renewed their longstanding partnership as they signed a comprehensive 25-year Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) yesterday, July 14, to supercharge livestock research and rural development in the Ilocos Region.

The agreement guaranteed the continuous hosting and operation of the PCC at the MMSU center, solidifying a collaborative relationship that first began in 1993.

Under the provisions of the new MOA, MMSU allocated a prime 3,786-square-meter plot of land for the center’s administration building, alongside an eight-hectare area dedicated to animal facilities and pasture development. Additionally, MMSU swore to lease the land to PCC for a token rental fee of just 1 peso per year for the next quarter-century. 

In return, PCC vowed to assume full financial responsibility for establishing, constructing, and operating the facility, including the provision of the center’s annual operating budget to cover administrative costs for using university facilities. 

The partnership is heavily anchored on Republic Act No. 7307, or the Philippine Carabao Act, and Republic Act No. 12308, which expanded PCC’s mandate to encompass broader livestock research, vaccine creation, and biologics development.

Both institutions are set to jointly undertake applied research focusing on carabao production, biotechnology, animal nutrition, and the creation of buffalo-based enterprises while also opening doors to PCC’s state-of-the-art facilities for MMSU faculty and students.