PRIMEX President and CEO Elvira C. Ablaza joined her former colleagues and current staffmembers of the Binangonan Freshwater Station (BFS) of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center– Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC-AQD) in celebrating the 40th founding anniversary of the Station last 29 July 2016 at the Kuhala Bay Resort in Cardona, Rizal.
Ms. Ablaza was among the pioneers at the Station, which she joined in 1976 as the recipient of a Pre-employment Thesis Grant from SEAFDEC and subsequently as Research Associate and Ecology Team Leader.
During the period of her employment at BFS, she was nominated by SEAFDEC for a six-month training course on the Fisheries Aspects of River Basin Development under the Professional Training for Agriculture Development (PTAD) Program of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN/FAO).
She was selected by FAO among 200 nominees from over the world to pursue the said training course at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy from February to July 1980.
Little did she know then that her employment at SEAFDEC, and the FAO training that she received while at BFS, would pave the way for her entry into the consulting world and her establishment of PRIMEX in August 1989.
SEAFDEC is an autonomous inter-governmental body established in 1967 “to develop and manage the fisheries potential of the region by rational utilization of the resources for providing food security and safety to the people and alleviating poverty through transfer of new technologies, research and information dissemination activities.” SEAFDEC comprises 11 member countries in the Southeast Asian region, including the Philippines, and has five Technical Departments located in different countries.
Of these five departments, the Aquaculture Department (AQD) is based in the Philippines, with headquarters in Tigbauan, Iloilo and with stations and sub-stations in different provinces. The BFS is mainly responsible for freshwater aquaculture research and development, and training and extension. The Station is located in Talim Island, Binangonan, Rizal and is currently headed by Dr Frolan Aya, Officer-in-Charge.