Five public schools in Bislig City, four elementary schools and one high school, are taking part in Gulayan sa Paaralan (vegetable gardens in schools) this year under the Department of Agriculture's urban farming program, according to a Philippine News Agency (PNA) report on the program's 2026 releases in Caraga.
What the DA has released in Caraga
The Department of Agriculture in Caraga (DA-13) has released more than P13.9 million in support as of August 2026 under the National Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Program (NUPAP), according to the PNA report. The support went to partners in the private sector, government agencies, public schools, state colleges and universities, and local government units.
The assistance covers seeds, fertilizers, garden tools, and production facilities such as greenhouses, nurseries and demonstration sites.
"So far, we have utilized about 95 percent of the PHP18 million budget for the program this year," DA-13 urban agriculture focal person Romer Amante told PNA.
The report identifies Bislig's participants only as four elementary schools and one high school. It does not name the schools or give a peso figure for Bislig alone.
What Gulayan sa Paaralan is
Gulayan sa Paaralan is not new. The Department of Education (DepEd) started it through DepEd Memorandum No. 293, series of 2007, in partnership with the Department of Agriculture. Its stated goal was to encourage public elementary and secondary schools to set up school gardens that keep a steady supply of vegetables flowing into school feeding, specifically DepEd's School-Based Feeding Program for undernourished learners.
DepEd reaffirmed the program in 2018 through DepEd Memorandum No. 095, which called for sustaining Gulayan sa Paaralan in public elementary and secondary schools nationwide. Schools that run gardens are expected to file a terminal report on the program at the end of each school year.
Under NUPAP, the Department of Agriculture's role is to supply production inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and tools, along with training.
Not the only NUPAP garden in Bislig
Schools are not the only NUPAP sites in the city. In 2024, the Agricultural Training Institute's Regional Training Center 13 partnered with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) Bislig City to set up a vegetable garden inside the city jail for persons deprived of liberty, under the Gulayan sa Piitan component of the same national program, according to an ATI Caraga report published March 27, 2024.
Why school gardens matter more this season
The gardens are starting a hard stretch. PAGASA's October 7, 2026 El Niño advisory forecasts below-normal rainfall in the Caraga Region this month, and Surigao del Sur is already classified as under dry conditions. Through a provincial disaster council briefing reported by the Philippine Information Agency, PAGASA encouraged communities to conserve water, consider rainwater harvesting, and plant drought-tolerant crops where possible. For school gardens that rely on rain and a schoolyard faucet, those are practical lessons.
Parents and teachers who want to know whether their school is one of the five, or how a school can join, can ask the school head, the Schools Division of Bislig City, or the City Agriculture Office.
Sources: Philippine News Agency report on DA-13's urban and peri-urban agriculture program (August 2026); DepEd Memorandum No. 293, s. 2007 and DepEd Memorandum No. 095, s. 2018; Agricultural Training Institute RTC 13 report (March 27, 2024); DOST-PAGASA El Niño Advisory No. 5 (October 7, 2026).