Two batches of seminars on Values Development, attended by some 100 employees of the Department of Agriculture-Central Visayas (DA7) were conducted on March 20 and 21, 2025 held at a venue in Cebu City, in preparation for the Lenten Season.
In the first batch, DA7 Regional Executive Director Angel C. Enriquez, gave a message, reminding the participants on the importance of having a personal relationship with God. She looked forward to the knowledge gained from the activity, which can be used in the agency and families.
“This is an important activity, talking about your values, and you know what? I don’t believe that an intelligent person can do well more than those that are not intelligent because sometimes I would prefer to have good character in a person than to be very intelligent. Yes, intelligence can be an asset, but more importantly, it is the character of a person that always counts,” Director Enriquez said.
For the two days, Dr. Melquiades B. Ibarra, DA7’s Admin and Finance Division (AFD) Chief, welcomed the participants, emphasized how lucky the participants were to be chosen among other employees to be part of the activity. He also stressed the importance of developing the intellectual skills of employees but also on nurturing good values towards work and life.
“This is one of the important roles of our human resources, to take care not only of our physical and mental being, the skills, and our capacity to do things but most importantly, to have values and know how to love. Also, we need to have empathy and kindness after all, it is always better to be kind than to be right,” he said.
Father Samuel Mary Liedel, CSJ of the Congregation of Saint John and a foreign priest shared his personal experiences and battles of faith, citing that God had not [may] given him the experiences he wanted, but God gave him unique experiences that made him special of who he is today.
Brother Jerome Cananea, a missionary and youth coordinator assistant of Brother of St. John, discussed on “The God of Hope who loves you unconditionally”. His lecture on Christian hope ends with emphasis on “we may be helpless at times but we are never hopeless.”
The participants were given the opportunity to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation after the lecture.
