Speaking to the graduates, Dr. Saguiguit emphasized that education is a good investment for the future. He also encouraged the graduates to not just sit on their academic achievements but rather put into good use what they have learned from the university. In his commencement message, Dr. Saguiguit also made a pitch for agriculture and its importance to food security and national development. He added that MMSU, as a premier university for agriculture and fishery education in the Ilocos region, will play a significant role in producing the needed high quality manpower for the agricultural and rural development (ARD) sector as well as other important disciplines.
MMSU has chosen Dr. Saguiguit as guest speaker in view his outstanding achievements in promoting ARD throughout his professional career spanning more than 40 years. Under his leadership, SEARCA has partnered with MMSU in the project Production of Organic Feeds for Native Chicken: A Pilot Corn/Sorghum + Cowpea Intercropping Scheme Integrated with Village Milling and Native Chicken Production funded by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR).
MMSU was also a beneficiary of SEARCA’s capacity building initiatives, particularly its Graduate Education and Institutional Development Program through which nine faculty members and administrators of MMSU had been awarded graduate scholarships. These SEARCA alumni are now occupying key positions and serving in their full capacity in the administration, teaching, and research and extension programs of MMSU.
