The Certificate of Accreditation was officially conferred to the Central Philippines State University (CPSU) Agricultural Machinery and Fisheries Testing Center (AMFTC) on March 18, 2025, at the Main Campus Accreditation Center.
The Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering (BAFE), the Agricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation Center (AMTEC) based in the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), and the Department of Agriculture (DA) awarded the certificate during the ceremonial turnover.
The establishment of the CPSU AMFTC started under the leadership and vision of CPSU President, Dr. Aladino C. Moraca and materialized through the six-year-long efforts of AMFTC Testing Engineer, Engr. Jolly D. Coronado with the support of Engr. Janet P. Serisola-COE Dean and BSABE faculty members.
BAFE Director, Dr. Baldwin G. Jallorina, expressed, “This accreditation is a product of hard work, collaboration, and partnership among different agencies like AMTEC, BAFE, and CPSU. It aims to support the Republic Act 10601, known as the Agricultural and Fisheries Mechanization Law, which aims to ensure the safety and quality of machinery through strengthening regulation and testing evaluation facilities…This accreditation is a seal of trust that ensures that CPSU meets the highest standards of quality service and testing evaluation of agricultural machinery."
The BAFE officially announced the accreditation of CPSU-AFMTC last February 20; the center, modeled after the UPLB AMTEC, aims to improve more accessible testing center service for micro and macro-scale agricultural and fisheries machinery fabricators in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.
In his response message, President Moraca stated, “We envision that CPSU will act as a linking facility and bring services to our local fabricators, abiding by our mandate to be a complementary academic institution that addresses food security in the country. The development of this partnership can position us to take care of emerging Filipino technology in agricultural and fisheries, and inspire production in rural areas by extending the services of the institution.”
On behalf of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Fernando D. Abello, the Quality Assurance Director, Dr. Grenny I. Jungco; AMTEC Director, Dr. Arthur L. Fajardo; and on behalf of DA-Negros Island Region OIC Regional Executive Director, Engr. Jose Alberto A. Barrogo, Sir Patrick C. Sta. Romana, also expressed their respective sentiments and hopes for the milestone.
Engr. Coronado expressed gratitude to the esteemed directors of different partnerships, saying, “With heartfelt gratitude, we bring this momentous occasion closer with the ceremonial turnover of our agricultural machinery testing center. This achievement is not solely ours but is the result of your tireless dedication, collaborative efforts, and supportive management of every individual.”
With CPSU AMFTC having the capacity to conduct testing and evaluation of agricultural machinery and publish test standards and evaluation results, the CPSU top management and COE envision enkindling more innovative agricultural and fisheries research efforts from COE faculty and students, inspiring rural mechanization and industrialization, especially from small-scale mechanization industries, and creating an impact in the development of technologies to suit the needs of Philippine agricultural and fisheries sectors.
