Unfortunately, the rural extension was weakened by the well-intentioned Local Government Code of 1991 which devolved agricultural extension to the local government units (LGUs). True, devolution allowed for more democratic participation and brought the arms of government which deliver the services closer to the people. However, we devolved the rural extension too far as it turned out most of the municipal agriculture offices (MAOs) were not up to the task because they were undermanned and underfunded. Be that as it may, we, however, object to the move by certain well-meaning quarters to re-centralize rural extension all the way back to the national level. This is retrogressed not progress.

Javier, E. Q. (2018, March 11). A collaborative province-led agriculture and fisheries extension model. Manila Bulletin, p. B-2.