San Jose City hosts this year’s ‘Gatas ng Kalabaw Festival’

San Jose City hosted the 6th Gatas ng Kalabaw Festival in Nueva Ecija last August 10. The event was the highlight of the 43rd anniversary celebration of the cityhood of San Jose.

“We are honored to host this festival,” Mayor Marivic Belena said in her speech during the opening ceremonies held at Pag-Asa Gym. “This festival not only adds color to the observance of our city’s anniversary, it also makes us understand better the very purpose of why we should continue to support the national carabao improvement program,” she added.

Mayor Belena said the city government gave its full support to the program knowing that it can do good in empowering the rural families, as well as their communities in San Jose City.

Nueva Ecija Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) provincial director Brigida Pili said the festival was jointly launched by different government and private agencies to give emphasis to the importance of carabao’s milk for the human health as well as in improving the economic welfare of local dairy farmers and entrepreneurs.

Later that day, carabao-pulled carts/floats were paraded by the dairy cooperatives and barangays of the city. The parade aimed to showcase carabaos owned by smallholder dairy farmers. Most of the floats were loaded with various kinds of milk products while others were decorated with farm products.

San Jose City is home to two of the best dairy cooperatives in Nueva Ecija which is the national impact zone for carabao dairying. These are the Simula ng Panibagong Bukas Primary Multi- Purpose Cooperative (SIPBUPCO) and ­­­Easterm Primary Multi-Purpose Cooperative.

During the program, six new dairy cooperatives which were recipients of 25-dairy buffalo module of the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) were recognized.
Also honored in the program were the outstanding cooperatives and barangays, the PCC for espousing carabao-based livelihood programs and the PCC at CLSU products outlet for its achievements in milk products development and marketing.

Nueva Ecija 2nd district Rep. Joseph F. Violago and Vice Governor Gay Padiernos graced the event. Both congratulated San Jose City for its successful hosting of the festival and for its achievements and contributions so far in boosting the local dairy industry.

They joined other key officials of the city and select children in the ceremonial milk toast which the organizers called “Tagay-Pugay”.

The 7th Gatas ng Kalabaw Festival” will be hosted next year by the municipal government of Gen. Natividad, Nueva Ecija.

PCC joins celebration of the ‘116th Unang Sigaw ng Nueva Ecija’

Indeed, it’s more fun to be a Novo Ecijano.

This pride of the Novo Ecijanos was demonstrated in the recently held Agri-Aqua Trade Fair organized in marking the 116th Unang Sigaw ng Nueva Ecija last August 28 at the Freedom Park in Cabanatuan City.

The exhibit was a showcase of different products of Nueva Ecija such as agricultural crops, organic foods, aquatic resources and milk products, among others.

PCC showcased its services in helping the small holder-farmers of Nueva Ecija and the country as a whole and also its products made of carabao’s milk which were instantly sold out to the guests in the exhibit.

Some cooperative and farmer-leaders in Nueva Ecija even inquired in the PCC booth on how to be part of PCC’s livelihood programs.

Another highlight of the event was the awarding of the certificates of ownership of farm machines and equipment to outstanding farmers in the province.

Over 100 exhibitors from national government agencies and local government units participated in the trade fair, which was the launch of the week-long celebration of the Unang Sigaw ng Nueva Ecija.

“Ang mga magsasaka ng Nueva Ecija ang tunay nating mga bagong bayani. Ang lahat ng mga produkto sa paligid na ating ipinagmamalaki ay wala rito kung hindi dahil sa inyo. Kaya ang masasabi ko, ang galling ng mga Novo Ecijano!” said Hon. Estrellita Bito-Onon Suansing, Board Member, 1st District of Nueva Ecija and representative of Governor Aurelio Umali.

The event is celebrated every year to commemorate the first successful show of revolutionary force of Novo Ecijanos against Spanish troops that happened in San Isidro in 1896.

The bravery and heroism of the Novo Eciajnos in the revolutionary movement is symbolically represented by one of the eight rays of the sun in the Philippine National Flag.