CITY OF ILAGAN – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Isabela Field Office, in partnership with the city government of Ilagan and the Armed Forces (AFP), has given former rebels and small-scale sugar cane planters a significant boost by giving them P.7 million worth of equipment and raw materials for their Sugar Cane Processing Project. ย
The program aims to improve the financial situation of the members, enhanced existing livelihood project and increase their capacity for sugar cane processing. It also supports the peace-building efforts of the government and integration of ex-rebels into the mainstream of society. ย The Sitio Lagis Farmers and Fisherfolks Association is a local community organization engaged in various agricultural activities in the challenging context of an area influenced by the presence of former rebels and classified as a New People’s Army (NPA) infested zone. ย
This association has demonstrated resilience and adaptability by engaging in diverse livelihood activities to sustain its members and contribute to the local economy. ย
Evelyn U. Yango, Chief of DOLE Isabela, stated that the project’s goal is to improve the association’s standard of living by providing them with resources. The success of the project in the long run would be determined by how well the association members are able to grow economically and achieve independence through their efforts to process sugar cane, she said. ย
โ๐๐ถ๐จ๐ข๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต’๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด’ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ญ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต,โYango added. ย
Meanwhile, the DOLE, in cooperation with the association, the 502nd Infantry Battalion, and the City Government of Ilagan, organized the two-day entrepreneurship development program for the Sugar Cane Processing Livelihood Project. ย
35 members participated in the entrepreneurship development workshop provided by Mr. Pedro M. Lugo, City Cooperative Officer from the City Government of Ilagan, which gave them the fundamental know-how and abilities needed to manage a successful sugar cane processing operation. ย
Among the topics discussed were, Introduction to Entrepreneurship; Business Planning; Marketing and Sales; Financial Management; Understanding basic accounting principles, budgeting, and Cash Flow management for sustainable business operations; Legal and Regulatory Compliance; and Product Quality and Process Improvement ensuring product quality, safety standards, and continuous improvement in sugar cane processing techniques. ย
After the training, a ceremony was conducted to hand out the goods needed for the sugar cane processing livelihood initiative. The association members received a sugar cane crusher, filtering equipment, packing materials, a vat, and stainless tables. A total of 100 bottles of cane vinegar, 2 gallons of sugar cane juice, and 5 kg of brown sugar were processed by the training participants. In order to meet the demands of the community, the group hopes to produce more.
