ROXAS CITY, Capiz (PIA) — Former Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) John Dela Cruz, now a coffee farm owner, has lauded various government agencies for helping him start his business.
“Various government agencies have a lot of programs. They are trying to help farmers and also returning OFWs,” Dela Cruz stated in Hiligaynon.
He shared that in 2019, when he first started his coffee farm, he inquired with the office of the Municipal Agriculturist in Panitan town about any assistance he could avail of to develop his farm.
“We received 1,500 seedlings of robusta coffee from the Department of Agriculture. They also visited the area and gave instructions on the planting requirements and on how to grow and take care of the plants,” Dela Cruz added.
However, at that time, he needed to return to the US for his work, so he hired workers to take care of his farm.
After the pandemic, he decided to return to the Philippines for good and focus on his coffee farm for his retirement.
Apart from the DA, Dela Cruz also inquired with other government agencies about the different ways to develop his farm.

In June 2024, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) granted JDC Coffee Farm the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) 4.0 iFund to scale up its coffee production.
Provincial Science and Technology Office (PSTO) Project Technical Assistant Vanessa Dela Peña said that Dela Cruz also participated in the DOST Innovations for Filipinos Working Distantly from the Philippines (iFWD PH) program for OFWs to enhance his knowledge in business management.
In 2023, he also engaged with the agency’s Food Safety Consultancy Program to ensure his farm’s adherence to food safety standards.
“I am not aggressively marketing my product as of the moment because of the limited raw materials, and most of my equipment is just household goods,” Dela Cruz said.
He said he also looks forward to raising more funds to enable him to further improve his product quality and meet the growing market demands.
Further, Dela Cruz is also one of the participants in the weeklong Coffee and Cacao Festival of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in celebration of Capiz Micro-, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME) Week 2024 on July 8–14 in SM City Roxas.
He noted that from 1,500 initial seedlings of robusta coffee, his farm now has more than 1,900 seedlings.
Dela Cruz also partnered with six store outlets in Roxas City for the display and retail of his products and is currently supplying coffee beans to one of the coffee shops at SM City Roxas. (AGP/PLF/PIA Capiz)
