By Daniel P. Tapaoan, Jr. 

Committed in making science and technology work for the people, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) continue to push initiatives that help empower communities. Reaffirming this strong resolve, MMSU and DOST Region I have agreed to implement another Community Empowerment through Science and Technology (CEST) program in Adams, Ilocos Norte this year. 

This was made official in a memorandum of agreement signed by DOST-1 Director Armando Q. Ganal, MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis, Local Government of Adams Mayor Rosalia D. Dupagen, and Barangay Adams Captain Roger Ramos Sr. in a virtual ceremony held via Zoom on August 19. 

Adams, a 5th class municipality, has been identified by the Philippine Statistics Authority as one of Ilocos Norte towns with high poverty incidence. 

Through the program, the two agencies will jointly conduct community organizing and undertake social mobilization activities in the municipality. They will employ interventions that would mitigate concerns on health and nutrition, water and sanitation, basic education and literacy, hazard mitigation, climate change adaptation, and livelihood enterprise development. 

In the agreement, MMSU will provide services of its technical experts to implement various development projects under CEST, while DOST-1 will lead in the conduct of an impact assessment of the project and will provide continuing technical assistance needed for the program implementation. 

PSCA considers the development initiative as another milestone, saying , “We shall continue to uplift the lives of people in remote communities by enabling them to adopt and maximize research-based technologies.” 

Adams Mayor Dupagen and Captain Ramos expressed gratitude and committed to cooperate for the CEST program, which supports the national government’s goal of eradicating poverty, raising livelihoods, ensuring food security, and providing a healthy and physically safe environment. DOST-1 and MMSU implemented the program in Dumalneg in 2019 and in Carasi last year. (HLY/JVBT, StratCom)