15 March 2009

Magalang, Pampanga

"Home of the sweetest tamarind in the Republic." Indeed, their tamarind is naturally sweet. The Aglibut sweet tamarind is propagated at the Pampanga Agricultural College (PAC) in Magalang, Pampanga. Unfortunately, we did not have enough fruits to taste because of the rains that came before our visit to PAC on March 9-12. The mature unharvested tamarind gets moldy when wetted according to the experts. I was with more than 20 accreditors from various state colleges and universities (SCUs) in Luzon for the accreditation survey visit. I joined the team which evaluated the BS Agricultural Engineering program on its second survey visit. Like other survey visits, there was just a short time to visit the campus, particularly the areas related to my assignment: Faculty and Research. It was my second visit to PAC since October 2003 and I'm glad to note the improvements in the College. PAC has been existing for 33 years and looking forward to being granted agricultural university status soon.