Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) XI extended P700,000 worth of livelihood assistance to a cooperative in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur.
The livelihood assistance was turned over to Pasig Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries and Upland Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (PARBUF – MPC) last April 11.
The cooperative based in Barangay Pasig currently has 138 members, 20 of them are indigenous people and 52 are parents of former child laborers.
The grant will be utilized to purchase mechanical slicers, other production equipment and initial inventory for their banana chips production.
DOLE XI Regional Director Raymundo Agravante said this is part of Executive Order 70 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last December which states the importance of “the convergence of government agencies and pooling of their resources and technical capabilities to attain sustainable peace and development in the grass root level which is an advantage especially to organized small cooperatives and associations.”
“Nasisiyahan talaga kami sa biyaya na binigay nang DOLE, lalo na yong inaasam-asam namin na mechanical slicer para sa saging. Doble-doble ang ma-slice na saging nang ekipo na yan. Pwede na naming tanggapin yong mga orders in volume,” Coop Chair Josephine Barsalote said during the turnover.
