"Banca Ni DV" Project of Oplan Pamamalakaya Provides Boats For Fishermen of Batangas

Fishermen of Batangas were the beneficiaries of the special project of Oplan Pamamalakaya which aims to provide new fishing boats or bancas to poor communities in the country. Dubbed as "Banca Ni DV," the boats were donated by DV Boer Farm International Corporation (DVBFI), headed by its CEO Dexter Villamin. The beneficiaries came from the coastal areas around Matabungkay in the town of Lian.

Oplan Pamamalakaya is a DVBFI initiative intended to offer profitable and sustainable livelihood opportunities for the members of Magsasaka Inc., a legitimate non-governmental organization (NGO), with the purpose to contribute to the country's overall agricultural progress and development not only in  terms of livestock farming but crop production and fisheries as well.

Teaching farmers how to fish

About an hour or so from the city proper, Marilog does not feel like part of Davao City. Understandably, because this third congressional district where the President of the Philippines lives is still thriving with dense greenery and with fruit bearing trees. It is because of this that Marilog became a leading exporter of fruits, giving it the title “Fruit Basket of the Philippines”.

In 2013, Henry Sy, Sr.’s SM Foundation donated a variety of tree seedlings to farmers of Sitio Upper Kibangay, Barangay Suawan in Marilog. This is part of the Foundation’s program called “Grow a Million Trees”, which supports the national government’s own greening program.