A voice for Caraga, a voice for Mindanao! 

For the first time in DA-BFAR Caraga’s history, a fisherfolk leader from Nasipit, Agusan del Norte has been appointed as an official member of the National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (NFARMC)—the highest policy-making advisory and recommendatory body for Philippine fisheries.

Ruben Timogan, 61, formally took his oath of office on Monday, March 17, 2025, before Department of Agriculture Secretary Francis Laurel Tiu, alongside other newly appointed NFARMC members, held at the Department of Agriculture in Quezon City.

A former regional fisherfolk director in 2018, Timogan has now made history as the first-ever NFARMC member from Caraga Region, representing the Fisherfolk and Fish Workers Sector for Mindanao.

The NFARMC serves as a vital platform for fisherfolk representation, bringing together voices from municipal and commercial fisheries, aquaculture, fishing sub-sectors, the academe, and non-governmental organizations, to shape the future of the country’s fisheries sector.### (Andy T. Ordoña, Information Officer, DA-BFAR Caraga)