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Sec. Andaya |
Several hundred beekeepers from all over the country will converge starting today, Wednesday November 21 until Friday, November 23 for the 6th National Beekeepers Convention at the Camarines Sur State Agricultural College (CSSAC) held under the auspices of the school and the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University.
Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, Jr. will be the keynote speaker in the three-day interaction intended to promote beekeeping as an industry with vast income potentials.
Andaya is slated to speak at around noon today following messages by Congressman Victor Ortega (1st District, La Union) and Congressman Felix Alfelor, Jr. (4th Dist., Cam. Sur).
Also scheduled to deliver their messages today are Engr. Orlando B. Balloguing, President of the Beekeepers Association of the Philippines (BAPI), Atty. Marito T. Bernales, Ph.D., CSSAC president; Dr. Ernesto R. Gapasin, DMMMSU president; Pili Mayor Alexis D. San Luis and Prof. Raul B. Ruiz, chief of the Regional Agriculture Center in Bicol based at CSSAC who is overall coordinator of the convention.
Congressman Luis R. Villafuerte (2nd Dist., Cam. Sur) has opted to be among the closing day lecturers and to discuss promotional strategies for the beekeeping industry.
Among those scheduled to discuss various lecture topics are: Ms. Imelda J. Sannadan on the On-going Beekeeping Program in La Union; Edmund Benavidez on the On-going Program of St. Louis University in support to Beekeeping in Cordillera and Mindanao; Benjamin Borbe who will expound on the San Ambrocio Farm in Laguna; Amelia R. Nicolas, Bicol Beekeeping Program; Ms. Lora Panga, the Status of Selected Beekeepers in Camarines Sur and Albay; and Rev. Fr. Manuel Espejo, Stewardship of Creation.
On day two, Ms. Melissa Francia and Ms. Maricon Esmabe will alternately discuss Trigona By-Products Developed: Effectivity and Utilization; Luke Macababad, Wine/Honey Mead Production; Danilo Doblon, Quarantine and Export of Bees; Sylvia C. Lopez, Quality Control and Registration of Bee Products as Food; Ms. Mary Ann L. Palmero, Basic Regulatory Requirements for Food Manufacturing Businesses; Dr. Apolonio Sito, NARTDI-DMMMSU: Support to the Development and Promotion of the Honeybee Industry/Re-echoing of the APIMONDIA Conference; and Matt Navalta, NGO-Support Systems to the Beekeeping Program in the Philippines.
Moderators include Dr. Jaime C. Dangle of DMMMSU, Dr. Eleodoro Alicante of WVSU-CAF and Dr. Reynaldo Laquidan of NARTDI-DMMMSU.
