Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson turned over cash incentives, worth P60,000 in all, to three provincial winners of the Young Farmers Challenge (YFC), namely Ma. Catherine Hacermida of E.B. Magalona, and Mara Ellyn Lacson and Bienre Bon Lamela, both of La Castellana.
The incentives are intended as additional capital of the winners’ chosen enterprises, such as native chicken and egg production, catfish grow-out and production, and mushroom production.
The YFC is a competitive financial grant or assistance program of the Department of Agriculture for the youth engaged in agri-fishery enterprise, the Capitol said Sept. 30.
YFC is designed to empower and recognize young agricultural innovators, and encourages sustainable practices and community involvement in farming.
The three winners from the province also earlier received P80,000 each from the DA for winning in the competition held in August this year.
Meanwhile, Bro. Edgar Esparagoza of the University of St. La Salle Bahay Pag-asa Youth Center received P1.7 million in financial assistance from the provincial government of Negros Occidental.
The center is a transformational facility for Children-in-Conflict with the Law and Children-at-Risk from Negros Occidental and surrounding areas.
Lacson turned over the check to Esparagoza at the Governor’s Office Sept. 30 together with Richelle Verdeprado-Manga and Blenda Villanueva of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office.
The governor also handed over financial assistance of P1 million to the Bacolod Girls’ Home Foundation Inc., represented by its executive director Ellen Lagtapon.
The foundation, funded through the Provincial Council for the Protection of Children, is a non-government organization that provides temporary shelter to orphans, abandoned, and abused girls, the Capitol said. ||
