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Dr. Jonald L. Pimentel, the USM President joined the 31st Founding Anniversary celebration of the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Carabao Center at USM (DA-PCC at USM) on January 26, 2026, at the PCC at USM Compound, Kabacan, Cotabato.
In his message, Dr. Pimentel expressed his appreciation to PCC at USM mentioning the effort of its Center Director, Dr. Geoffray R. Atok, as handling the center is not an easy job knowing the coverage of the center—Region XI, Region XII, and BARMM.
“Let us continue to strengthen our roots, expand our reach, and rise with purpose, serving as a beacon of excellence, hope, and progress for the future generations,” he ended.
Meanwhile Dr. Atok highlighted the significant accomplishments of PCC at USM over the years. He mentioned that PCC was awarded as number 1 center in the country, and expressed his hope that they can claim it again this year. He also narrated that PCC with tight budget will continue to take care of its employees.
“We are going to improve. We are trying our best to rise beyond expectations; to rise even with distractions, and to rise even without budget increase, but we increase salaries,” he noted.
He said that PCC has a budget of 400 million that will be used for research starting this year, making it a new face of the center starting this year. PCC at USM will collaborate with USM’s College of Agriculture (CA), College of Science and Mathematics—Biology Department, and College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM).
During the celebration, fruit tree and vegetable growing activity also transpired. Additionally, both Tambad Farmers Agriculture Association (TFAA) of Carmen, Cotabato, and the USM Academic Support Staff Association, Inc. (USMASSAI) of Kabacan, Cotabato received 5 gestating buffaloes. The entrustment of the buffaloes were under the Carabao Herd Build-Up (CHB) Project of PCC. It aims to increase the animal holdings of dairy farmers by providing pregnant breeding stocks from DA-PCC and agistment farms, improve buffalo genetics and reproductive efficiency, and boost milk production to ensure a stable supply for carabao-based enterprises.
Present in the program were the employees of USM and PCC, representatives from local and provincial government of Cotabato, farmers, and partners of PCC at USM.
