By Freddie G. Lazaro
The National Tobacco Administration (NTA) honored as one of the top three performing Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) attached to the Department of Agriculture (DA) for Fiscal Year 2024.
Administrator and CEO Belinda S. Sanchez formally received a trophy from Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. during the Second DA Management Committee (MANCOM) meeting at the Lopez Convention Hall, Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), Visayas Avenue, Quezon City on April 29, 2025.
The NTA ranked third behind the Philippine Rice Research Insitute (PhilRice) and the National Dairy Authority (NDA) that tied for the second place and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) for the first place among the attached corporations of the DA, which were under Cluster 4 of the first Performance Appreciation System (PAS) evaluation.
The award given to NTA is a manifestation of the agency’s unwavering effort to extend excellence in its operations and programs’ implementation align to the DA’s strategic vision on food security, sufficiency, and agricultural development.
The DA assessed all its regional field offices (Cluster 1), bureaus (Cluster 2), attached agencies (Cluster 3) and corporations (Cluster 4) using the PAS, as outlined in the DA Administrative Order No. 9, series of 2024. The assessment focused on four key dimensions of accountability (KDA) such as physical performance, financial performance, good governance, and citizen/client satisfaction results, among others.
Secretary Tiu Laurel Jr. spearheaded the PAS to give recognition on the exceptional accomplishments of DA regional field offices, bureaus, attached agencies, and corporations. It is designed to promote accountability, transparency, and a culture of continuous improvement, while embodying the true spirit of public service.
Completing the list of top performing offices/bureaus, attached agencies and corporations of DA for FY 2024 were the following: For Cluster 1- DA Regional Field Office 2 (RFO 2) – First Place; DA RFO III – Second Place; and DA RFO I – Third Place.
For Cluster 2 – the Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Product Standards (BAFS) – First Place; the Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering (BAFE) – Second Place; and the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) – Third Place.
For Cluster 3 – the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) – First Place; the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) – Second Place; and the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) – Third Place. (fgl)