BESAO, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE – Funded under the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP), the Mountain Province Arabica Coffee Enterprise (MPACE) worth over P14 million was inaugurated last February 12, 2020.

“Congratulations to the proponents of this enterprise as your dream has already been fulfilled. We at the provincial government and the DA-PRDP have given our counterparts and it’s on you now to develop and sustain this subproject,” said Mountain Province Governor Bonifacio C. Lawasan, Jr. during the inauguration, turnover, and acceptance ceremony.

The inauguration commenced through the blessing and ribbon cutting of the MPACE Coffee Consolidation and Trading Center located in Dumdumacog, Kin-iway in Besao, Mountain Province.

During the ceremony, Maryjane S. Tumapang of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist shared the milestones of the subproject from conceptualization to implementation.

“The concept of this enterprise is to have a unified consolidation and trading of Arabica coffee. For this enterprise, the Proponent Groups (PGs) will consolidate the production of all their farmer members in terms of coffee parchment and bring it here to the main center for processing into green beans,” she said.

Four (4) coffee satellite buying stations along with various coffee equipment and facilities were also turned over to the PGs for the operation of the enterprise. These include a delivery truck, elevated solar dryers, floatation drums, jute sacks, weighing scales, and moisture meters among others.

Darlin Rodriguez, manager of Besao Multipurpose Cooperative (BMPC) thanked everyone for providing support to the cooperatives involved in the enterprise subproject and committed to sustain the operations of the enterprise.

“We have come up with resolutions committing our own cooperatives to sustain the enterprise and as we envision to improve the coffee industry in the province, we are also looking forward for the expansion of this enterprise as a coffee processing center in the province,” said Rodriguez.

Meanwhile, DA-RFO-CAR Regional Executive Director Cameron P. Odsey challenged the PGs to make this enterprise a progressive source of livelihood for all their (cooperative) members. He further encouraged the PGs to maintain and expand their production of coffee as it is the primary cause that these interventions were brought to them.

“The demand for Arabica coffee is high that is why you chose this commodity when you drafted your business plan. It grows well in our area and it can gain economic benefits given our competitive advantages but we really are short in production, which is another challenge for you,” said Odsey.

Elma S. Mananes, Deputy Project Director of the PRDP Project Support Office (PSO) Luzon A Cluster further commended the efforts of the provincial LGU, PGs, RPCO and PSO for the approval of the subprojects of Mountain Province.

“This subproject is given to you as grant from the government and the only payment that the Project wants is for you to increase your income, take good care of this investment, and sustain it,” Mananes added.

The MPACE is the second subproject implemented by the provincial LGU of Mountain Province that was inaugurated and turned over to the beneficiaries. The lead PG for the enterprise is the BMPC and the afficialt PGs include the Tadian MPC, Sagada MPC, Sagada Credit Cooperative, St. Barnabas MPC, Bagnen-Balintaugan Timpuyog Credit Cooperative, Maggon Rural Improvement Club, and Dangdang-ay di I-Bila MPC. The satellite buying stations for the enterprise were constructed in Sagada, Tadian, and Bauko.

The civil works is worth P8.74 million while the enterprise cost amounts to P5.57 million that is shared by the World Bank, the Government of the Philippines through the DA, the PLGU, and the PGs.

To date, Mountain Province has five (5) infrastructure subprojects of which one (1) was already completed and four (4) are still under implementation. In terms of enterprise subprojects, six (6) are already completed, three (3) are under implementation, and one (1) still under procurement. ### ELVY S. TAQUIO (DA-PRDP)