By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
The Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center realized a net income of only of PhP 2,751,892.63 during the first quarter of 2018. This was revealed during the BAPTC board meeting a month ago that was presided over by DA Sec. Manny Pinol. The Center is expected to at least earn PhP2.5M pesos a month
At the rate therefore that the Center is operating, it will take about 80 more years to recoup the cost of its capital outlay, excluding the land cost or rental!
With that kind of performance, it is not hard to say for critics that the Center appear to be a losing proposition at the moment. Why is this so?
The Agri-Pinoy Trading Centers have been established to help small farmers get more for what they produce. They were intended to skirt the marketing layers that were making life a little more difficult for them. There are now 22 of them distributed around the Philippines (10 for Veggies, 6 for livestock; 2 for marine products; 2 for corn processing; 2 for multi-commodity). It means that the government invested so much for our less fortunate farmers, yet BAPTC for instance is not being utilized fully.
It is pitiful. Is it because of management? Maybe so, for those who have selfish interests. If you ask management and carefully listen to their answer, you will be convinced that they are doing their best to make the Center fully operational. There are just some impediments, apparently borne out of the usual greedy arrangements, to overcome.
As of now, the Center operates practically only half-day or, at times, up to 2 or 3 pm. This is certainly due to the current low number of accredited individuals (1,405) and groups of stakeholders (162) by the Center. According to Dr. Violeta Salda, the chief operating officer of the Center, it needs 113,150 farmers to make it fully operational.
They have been doing their best, even with the help of national DA officials to convince farmers to dispose their products at the Center, but not that successful. It seems that those traders ensconced at the old Trading Post at km 5, are still holding sway. They belong to a group which feel that they should control everything or that, they should run the affairs of the facility. In fact, some of their members who are now at BAPTC hardly give a damn to policies even though they are fully briefed and routinely reminded about them.
The success of any program totally hinges on the cooperation of every stakeholder. When selfish interests come in the way, such cooperation is blasted into smithereens. That seems to be what is happening to BAPTC. It is not the farmers themselves not wanting to be accredited in the Center. They are just beholden to a few financial supporters who wield some influence. The non-full operation of the Center is therefore benefitting only a few who already have means, and the small farmers are being taken advantage of.
Farmers should really think positively about applying for accreditation with the Center. It will redound to their benefit in the long run.
Some congressional legislation maybe necessary to make people at the old Trading Post toe the line, relocate to BAPTC and make it fully operational. After all, the Center was financed through people’s money.
DA central fully supports the Center and its management. It is providing PhP 100 million loan this year to farmers with very, very minimal interest unlike the usual loan that they get from traders which is sky high. They are even required to sell their produce to the said traders at a price that may not be favorable to them.
The Center houses the Agricultural Credit and Policy Council that processes agricultural loans such as the Production Loan Easy Access. To have access to the loan, the farmers only need to be accredited or member of an accredited farmers’ association or cooperative. At the moment, Cordi farmers, especially Benguet farmers, have a very high credit rating. So, to our concerned farmers, why cling to the usual arrangement that is too disadvantageous to you? Grab a better opportunity at BAPTC.
Among others, Dr. Salda is contemplating a finance workshop for the Center, to make its financial status clear, transparent, and easier to evaluate. A vegetable roadmapping is also in the works to determine so many important things such as the present contribution of the region to the vegetable supply of the country, what veggie and where to plant it at a given period. According to her, the Center will undergo vital repairs of its cold storage and other facilities, to meet certain market demands for veggies, fruits, marine products, and other commodities.
Sec. Pinol made it clear during their board meeting that “the BAPTC should not only be a trading center for vegetables, it should be the model for farmers’ trading center.”
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