Sta. Rosa City, Laguna –– Around 50 representatives from various offices of the Department of Agriculture (DA) CALABARZON attended the three-day Training Cum Workshop on Technical Writing and Photography from November 8-10 at the El Cielito Hotel in Brgy. Pulong, Sta. Rosa City in Laguna.

After the lecture on news and feature writing, the participants worked on writing news and feature stories about the activities conducted and/or to be conducted by their respective units.

According to Radel Llagas, Information Officer II at the Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Office and the activity coordinator, the training is part of the efforts of the regional office to maximize the information dissemination with the help of its various units. He added that the regional office aims showcase articles from the different units in Agri-Life Gazette and Kabalikat magazine, their regional publications and online platforms.

Among the participants was Alfiel Dimaculangan, Equipment Technician III at Lipa Agricultural Research and Experiment Station, who shared that the training will help with their unit’s documentation of projects.

According to Bernard A. Carnay, Administrative Aide IV at the Agribusiness Marketing and Assistance Division Unit, he learned about the three types of news –advance, coverage/spot, and spot – that can be prepared for events/activities in their unit.

Diana Annette Gonzales, research assistant at the Organic Agriculture Research and Development Center, said she learned a lot about the writing process especially the distinctions between new, feature, and captions.

The resource persons for the training-workshop included Camille Victoria Fernandez of PTV4 who discussed broadcast journalism; Ricarda Villar from the UP Los Baños College of Development Communication and Los Baños Times editor-in-chief, who facilitated discussions on news and feature writing; and Dominic Meily, a UNTV creative director, who discussed photography and photojournalism.

Llagas explained that the activity is the first of a series of communication trainings aimed at improving communication capacities of DA CALABARZON staff. The next training tackling effective layout and design is set on Nov. 15-17 at the same venue.