The Agricultural Credit Policy Council and the Department of Agriculture recently turned over P5.5 million in working capital to seven processing centers in Palawan, Oriental Mindoro and Occidental Mindoro.
This is in response to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol’s call to support regional processing centers in the country, said Joel Matira of ACPC.
Given P1 million each were The Mindoro Rice Processing Center (MRPC) in Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro; Bansud Livestock MPC in Bansud, Oriental Mindoro; Coconut Farmers of Mindoro (CFOM) and Palawan ARC Cooperative Federation (CFOM).
On the other hand, receiving P500,000 worth of assistance each are Pagpapaunlad Kita-Kilusang Bayan sa Gawain in Rizal (Pakikibaga) in Rizal, Occidental Mindoro; Ligaya Multi-Purpose and Transport Services Cooperative (LimTransCo) in Ligaya, Occidental Mindoro; and Taytay Municipal Farmers Association (TMFA) in Taytay, Palawan.
Interest-free soft loan
DA-Mimaropa Regional Executive Director Cipriano Santiago handed over the checks to cooperative leaders together with representatives of ACPC and the National Food Authority (NFA).
Matira said the working capital was an interest-free soft loan payable in three years for the loans worth P500,000 and five years for the P1-million package.
Both come with a grace period of two years.
Before the distribution of working capital, the DA and NFA facilitated a training workshop on Institutional Development, Palay Post-Production Technology and Cooperative Enterprise Management (PPPT-CEM) for plant managers, warehouse men, milling operators, dryer operators, bookkeepers, classifiers, marketing officers, managers and chairpersons of cooperatives and associations.
Workshop attendees were also brought to Bicol where they witnessed how successful RPCs operate.
Santiago told the attendees in his congratulatory message that the challenge was for the officers behind the cooperatives to improve the service of their RPCs so that they would continue to receive benefits.