Agnes hires Junjun's uncle as consultant

CEBU, Philippines - The Provincial Capitol will be implementing back the Farmer-Scientist Training Program, which was reportedly halted for political reasons.

Acting Governor Agnes Magpale said that they were strengthening the assistance to farmers and the agricultural sector by implementing back the FSTP program in the province.

Magpale has appointed Dr. Romulo Davide as consultant of the Provincial Government, specifically on the FSTP which he started in 1994 in his hometown in Argao.

Magpale said she appointed Davide over a month ago, long before the Commission on Election's ban to appoint and hire new employees took effect.

The same as his consultancy work in the Provincial Capitol before, under the administration of suspended Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, Davide will only be paid P1 a year.

Davide, a Magsaysay awardee for the FSTP program, was consultant of the Capitol for six years but was replaced when Hilario "Junjun" Davide III, his nephew, ran against Garcia for the gubernatorial seat in 2010.

Junjun is running again for the governor's post, with now Acting Governor Agnes Magpale as his runningmate.

Magpale said Davide's FSTP was very beneficial to the farmers and it was followed by other provinces after former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued an executive order for the program to be implemented nationwide.

With the FSTP, scientists and farmers work together to fuse skills to further increase their crops. According to reports where the FSTP program was implemented, farmers had an increase of up to 100 percent in their crop production.