Agriculture
-
Oriental Mindoro Expands Access to Subsidized Rice
Vulnerable sectors in Oriental Mindoro are gaining improved access to affordable rice with the Benteng Bigas Meron (BBM) Na program now selling subsidized rice at 20 pesos per kilogram in several locations in the province.…
-
Agriculture in Crisis: Mindoro Farmers Call on PBBM for Immediate Intervention
Farmers from Occidental Mindoro have submitted a formal manifesto to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and top agriculture officials, demanding urgent government intervention to address what they describe as a deepening crisis in the country’s…
-
Oriental Mindoro Wins Top RCEF Award Despite Rice Production Decline
Oriental Mindoro received the Most Outstanding Province award for Luzon in the large-scale category during the National Assembly of Provincial Agriculture Offices on Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) implementation Friday, despite facing production decline in…
-
P207-M Worth of Agricultural Machinery Distributed in Occidental Mindoro
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has turned over 94 units of modern agricultural machinery valued at P207.47 million to farmers’ cooperatives in Occidental Mindoro province on Friday, August 29, 2025. The equipment handover ceremony in…
-
NFA: Rice reserves sufficient in Occidental Mindoro
Officials in Occidental Mindoro have said they have stockpiled 869,000 bags of unmilled rice and 90,000 bags of milled rice – enough for 144 days based on daily consumption patterns. “If we mill all the…
-
Mindoro irrigation project to undergo public scrutiny as farmers seek water security
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has scheduled a public scoping meeting for July 17, 2025 to discuss the proposed Lipitan small reservoir irrigation project, which would serve 6,676 hectares of farmland through…
-
Oriental Mindoro Offers Free Soil Testing to Optimize Rice Yields
Hundreds of rice farmers in Oriental Mindoro have benefited from a new program offering free, on-site soil analysis and immediate fertilizer recommendations. The program, spearheaded by the Provincial Agriculturist’s Office between March and May 2025,…
-
Oriental Mindoro Mechanizes Farms to Counter Labor Drain, Distributes P162M Worth of Tools
Facing a persistent dearth of farmhands, Oriental Mindoro has equipped its agricultural sector with over P162 million in modern machinery. The move, a concerted push by the provincial government, is expected to improve output and…
-
DA to Build P500M Cold Storage Facility in Mindoro to Stabilize Farm Prices
The national government will construct a 500-million-peso mega cold storage facility in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, designed for preventing agricultural price volatility and reducing post-harvest losses, the Department of Agriculture (DA) announced. The 5,000-pallet-position facility…
-
Naujan Hog Raisers Oppose Slaughter Pig Imports into Mindoro
A major hog raising cooperative in Oriental Mindoro is opposing the entry of slaughter pigs into the province, instead advocating for a strategic breeding program to address severe pork shortages caused by African Swine Fever…
Founder’S Profile
Romel “Direk” Ferriol Bernardo
Bernardo Creative Ventures, Inc., the company behind Direk Fuels, Oriental Mindoro’s homegrown gas station chain, and Direk Builders, which rents out heavy equipment, is expanding its portfolio by venturing into online media and content production.
The company’s entry into news media is not surprising, as its founder and CEO, Romel “Direk” Bernardo, was a television writer, producer, and director for over 15 years. From 2002 to 2007, he served as a researcher, writer, and producer for GMA-7’s top-rating show Imbestigador before becoming the executive producer for ABS-CBN’s award-winning documentary program, The Correspondents.
