Photo op with resource speakers Mr. Emmanuel R. de Guia and Ms. Jalaine Joyce V. Malabanan during the 2023 NCPC Strategic Planning Workshop. (Photo by PMdeChavez)
The National Crop Protection Center (NCPC) conducted the 2023 NCPC Strategic Planning Workshop at the WhiteWoods Convention Hotel in Silang, Cavite last February 7-9. The workshop participants were NCPC research, extension, and administrative personnel.
Dr. Barbara L. Caoili, NCPC director, opened the program by stressing the importance of the futures thinking approach in examining, re-imagining, and strengthening NCPC’s mandate. She also challenged the participants to retain NCPC’s relevance by accomplishing the Center’s goals and objectives.
CAFS Dean Elpidio M. Agbisit, Jr. and CAFS Associate Dean for Research and Extension Lilia M. Fernando-Corpuz also delivered messages during the program. Dr. Fernando-Corpuz emphasized the importance of teamwork and mentorship within NCPC, while Dr. Agbisit encouraged selfless hearts and innovativeness among the personnel.
Serving as resource speakers during the planning workshop were Mr. Emmanuel R. de Guia, resident futurist of the Senate Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation, and Futures Thinking; and Ms. Jalaine Joyce V. Malabanan, chief of the Center for Futures Research at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
In his talk, Mr. de Guia discussed means for framing the futures of NCPC and strategic foresight. He talked about the steps to strategic foresight, which involves framing the domain, scanning forces and trends, forecasting scenarios, envisioning the future, backcasting, and implementation.
Meanwhile, Ms. Malabanan talked about future intelligence, trends, and signals. She also introduced the compassionate-anticipatory paradigm. According to Malabanan, compassion involves concerning oneself with the pain of another. It was in this light that she challenged NCPC to ensure that its programs are relevant to and needed by its stakeholders.
For the workshop proper, the research and extension personnel utilized the guide to strategic foresight and put their heads together to identify possible banner programs of NCPC, while the administrative personnel worked on streamlining office processes.
The planning workshop ended with the closing remarks by Ms. April N. Alviar, NCPC deputy director. She stressed that necessary actions must also be taken to adjust and adapt to the changing world in addition to planning for the future of the Center.
(First published at the Aggie Green & Gold newsletter, February 2023 issue)
