The staff of the enterprise development (I-REAP) component of the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) North Luzon Cluster underwent tooling and retooling on the pre-implementation process of the second additional financing (AF-2) via the Webex platform from August 4- 5, 2022.

The two-day activity, which was spearheaded by the Project Support Office (PSO) I-REAP Component, was held to orient the newly hired staff and retool the current workforce of the component from the four regional project coordination offices (RPCO CAR, 1, 2, and 3) on the important steps in approving subprojects.

In her message, PSO I-REAP Component Head, Jamesiah Badua – Lompero, reiterated the need to fast-track the completion of enterprise subprojects under the Original Loan and approval of pipelined subproject under the AF2.

She then urged everyone to give their full cooperation to accomplish what the component needs to accomplish for the Project.

“I hope this retooling activity with workshops will help every staff be more equipped and aware of the component’s subproject procedures, activities, tools, outputs, and responsibilities that are crucial to efficiently perform the tasks required to obtain no objections for the implementation of I-REAP subprojects,” Badua – Lompero said.

As part of the activity, a mock activity on proponent group validation and a business modeling exercise were facilitated by the PSO I-REAP Component.

In the mock validation, four enterprise groups, one from each region, were subjected to validation. RPCOs were divided into two groups and were tasked to perform role plays of being validators in the first play and a proponent group in the second. At the end of each play, the validating team presented its findings and assessment of whether the PGs will be confirmed or not.

On the other hand, in the business modeling exercise, participants were tasked to prepare a business model based on a given scenario. They were given two scenarios to choose from.

After each workshop, National Project Coordination Office (NPCO) I-REAP Alternate Component Head, Leny Pecson, provided insights to the output presentation of every region.

The PG validation is a process of assessing the eligibility of the group that wishes to avail PRDP funding using a set of criteria, while, business modeling refers to the activity being undertaken by both the local government unit (LGU) and the proponent group with the assistance of the RPCO to come up with a business concept that supports the proposed enterprise. (Ericson M. Guiao, PSO North Luzon InfoACE)