CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA) — Residents of Tagoloan town, Lanao del Norte, known as “kugi” or hardworking, received various livelihood services from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Lanao del Norte provincial offices as part of the Information and Serbisyo Caravan, which took place on October 30 in Barangay Kiazar, Tagoloan, Lanao del Norte.
A total of 1,000 households from the five barangays of Tagoloan municipality availed of these services.
“Atong gihatag nga services sa mga taga Tagoloan, ang registration of workers, meaning pwede sila makapangayo og form sa amo for their association, minimum of 15 members, for the registration of workers association, pwede ta women, farmers, vendors as long as maka-form sila og association or organization, cooperative, pwede pud,” Kathleen Kate J. Taruc, DOLE Lanao del Norte officer, said.
(We provide services to the people of Tagoloan, including the registration of workers, meaning they can request a form from the employer for their association, with a minimum of 15 members. For the registration of worker associations, we can include women, farmers, and vendors as long as they can form an association or organization, a cooperative; it is also possible.)
Meanwhile, DOLE also brought their Integrated Livelihood program, where a group or association can avail of P100,000 to P1.5 million worth of goods for their business. They only have to register their group or association with DOLE, or Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). “Once they have certificates and are registered, they can avail of the group livelihood,” she said.
According to DOLE Lanao del Norte, residents of Tagoloan town are renowned for their hard work, emphasizing their ability to sustain any given livelihood, particularly when there are products and consumer stores available.
Meanwhile, the Department of Trade and Industry Lanao del Norte (DTI-LDN) provincial office provided various programs and services, including assistance with business registration. This included processing business names and registering barangay micro-business enterprises (BMBEs).
“This is a free certificate for the MSME, so meaning ang incentives and benefits for BMBE, is free ‘yung income tax nila sa Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), as well as meron silang special credit window to the partner agencies, meron silang free minimum wage exemption,” Jamaliah T. Nasrodin of the DTI Lanao del Norte provincial office said.
(This is a free certificate for the MSME, so the incentives and benefits for BMBE are free for their income tax at the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), as well as having a special credit window for the partner agencies; they have a free minimum wage exemption.)
“We also conducted some trainings and skilled workshops for existing and potential Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs); we also have the Pangkabuhayan Serbisyo program; for those affected in war conflicts and calamities, we also have SSF, or Shared Service Facilities,” she said.
According to Engr. Maminta Dimakuta, the municipal mayor of Tagoloan, the Information and Serbisyo caravan is bringing government programs and services closer to the people, particularly those in geographically isolated and disadvantageous areas, and is a potential solution to end the local communist armed conflict. (JMOR/PIA-10)
