Information Unit

The DA-BSWM, through the Information Office, remains adaptive in the persistent thrusts of the government towards development, particularly of the Department of Agriculture. As such, the Information Office (InfO) continuously gears up towards a wider audience reach, and a broader scope, especially with the inception of big ticket programs of the BSWM – among others are the National Soil Health Program, the Establishment of Composting Facility for Biodegradable Wastes, and Foreign-Assisted Projects. These are being implemented on top of the BSWM’s services such as the Soil/Land Evaluation & Mapping; Land Use Matters; Soil Conservation Farm Planning; Small Scale Irrigation Infrastructure; Cloud Seeding Operations; Laboratory Services; Research & Development; Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1435; and Soil and Water Information Systems.

Additionally, the InfO ensures compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements to the implementation of the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery (EODB-EGSD) Act of 2018 and Freedom of Information, and RA 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA), being the Receiving Officer, and the In-Charge of the Public Assistance and Customers’ Center and 8888 Citizens’ Complaint Center.

With the wide spectrum of the BSWM’s scope as aforementioned, and in order to efficiently provide excellent outputs as the agency’s communications arm, the InfO continually improves, devises and implements strategies on information dissemination and promotion through various communication platforms.

Specifically, the following are the functions of the Information Office:

- Develop and implement a social media content management plan for the management of social media campaigns, development of relevant content topics to create awareness on the various programs, projects and activities and handling and monitoring of feedbacks and suggestions on the BSWM’s programs
- In coordination with the Divisions/Centers/Units of the BSWM, design, layout, document, undertake post production and packaging of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials as well as all multimedia communications prescribed in the BSWM Communication Plan
- Conceptualize, package and translate user-friendly media to facilitate dissemination by appropriate institutions, the knowledge information on soil and water technologies for sustainable agriculture development and maintain back-up copies of the same for easy access and retrieval
- Prepare articles and press releases and plan publicity strategies and campaigns (e.g. press interviews, meetings, tours, etc.) to ensure adequate coverage of issues and concerns of the BSWM in the mainstream media
- Maintain linkage with the media, the DA Agriculture and Fisheries Information Division (AFID) and the Regional Information Offices for the purpose of disseminating information on developed soil and water technologies
- Coordinate closely with the Geomatics and Soil Information Technology Division (GSITD) for information to be uploaded to the BSWM Homepage
- Handle the facilitation/organization of events, physical arrangement and technical operations of AVP equipment
- Coordinate with the BSWM Library In-Charge on knowledge products dissemination and upgrade it to be able to handle e-learning tools
- Handle all other tasks related to the BSWM’s public information campaign as may be assigned by the Office of the Director