HON. NESTOR FONGWAN

Governor, Province of Benguet

 

HON. GREGORIO ABALOS, JR

Mayor, Municipality of La Trinidad

 

MR. YOICHIRO KAWASAKI

Project Manager, Japan Agricultural Exchange Council

 

Distinguished Guests,

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

Good morning to you all!

 

It is a great pleasure for me to join you today in this turnover ceremony. I would like to express my gratitude to your warm welcome to me and my colleagues.

 

On behalf of the Japanese people, I am pleased to hear that the improved composting facility started its operation last January and set to achieve three interrelated goals. First, instead of disposing vegetable trimmings to the landfill, people can now utilize them by converting them to organic fertilizers in this facility, thereby preventing environmental concerns such as foul odor and additional methane gas emission from decomposing wastes. This is an impressive outcome of the project, considering that the prevention of global warming has been discussed all around the world today.

 

Secondly, the project is expected to address the need of farmers for a large quantity of affordable organic fertilizer in the municipality. Now they only pay 120 pesos per sack for organic fertilizer. You can imagine the impact by comparing to 200 pesos per sack of commercial fertilizer. Lastly, the organic fertilizer produced in this facility is expected to enhance soil fertility in the long run. This can lead to the improvement of the agricultural production and increase of the farmer's income.

 

I sincerely admire the efforts of Governor Fongwan and Mayor Abalos in addressing the needs of vegetable farmers and at the same time mitigating the effects of global warming through best practices represented by this project. I also hope that this facility will contribute to the sustainable supply of highland vegetables in this area to consumers in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon.

 

I would also like to appreciate the efforts of the Japan Agricultural Exchange Council that has a strong tie-up with people in this region and support them by transferring their agricultural techniques to them. This kind of grassroots cooperation can further strengthen our friendship that has long lasted since the early twentieth century when the Japanese workers engaged in the construction of Kennon Road.

 

Finally, let me express my gratitude to all who have gathered here for their dedication and hard work for the realization of this project. I am counting on your effort to keep this facility working for the benefit of your constituents. This endeavor will serve as another milestone fostering a strategic partnership between our two countries towards the future .

 

Thank you very much for your attention.