The shared service facility (SSF) and the greenhouse provided by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to indigenous peoples (IPs) in the municipality of Laua-an in Antique have helped improve their productivity and generate more income. Latazon IP Organization (LAIPO) president Abel Pedro said that before the support from the DTI, their earnings were only enough to purchase materials for liniment, skin ointment, and other traditional herbal medicines. "Through the SSF, we were able to receive cooking pots, stove, working table, and other equipment to increase our production," he said in an interview on Wednesday. Pedro said DTI Antique provided them with around PHP1 million worth of SSF and greenhouse last year. With the greenhouse, even with too much heat, they could still grow herbal plants such as oregano, yerba buena, and pepper. 'The greenhouse protects our plants so that they will not wilt," he said. The support, Pedro said, has also enticed more IPs in Barangay Latazon to join LAIPO. From five members when it was organized in 2018, they now have 65 members who render at least four hours of work in their processing center. "The IPs in our community saw the opportunity of earning an income from making traditional herbal medicines that they have become interested in," he said. Pedro said the IPs get PHP20 per bottle for helping in the processing, giving them additional income from what they earned from farming, which is their main source of livelihood. The organization could earn as much as PHP3,000 per month from their display at Balay Local (trade center) at the old capitol. "A 30-gram ointment is being sold at the Balay Local for PHP125," he said. Pedro said the DTI has also been instrumental in them displaying their products at the old capitol along with products of other micro, small and medium entrepreneurs. They are now looking forward to producing more products like herbal cleansing tea. "In fact, we are just waiting for the Bureau of Foods and Drugs Administration (BFAD) approval so we could already introduce the tea to the market," Pedro said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
