LAGAWE, IFUGAO – – The Kapatid Mentor Me Seminar Program, a flagship initiative of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), is expanding in Ifugao’s grassroots level.
The value of invigorating the economy in the countryside, most especially in far-flung villages, significantly increased following the DTI-Ifugao Office’s move to conduct launching activities in six villages, latest government data showed.
As of this writing, this innovative program has gained footholds in the villages of Haliap and Panubtuban in Asipulo town; Caba and Luta in Lagawe; and Lawig and Lucban in Lamut. There are 176 barangays in Ifugao.
The orientation meetings were held in barangay halls. A number of barangay council officials attended.
Looking closer at the trend of the highly-successful Kapatid Mentor Me Seminar Program’s recent advances, however, the opinion on the quality of individuals being trained by the DTI- or “mentees” over the quantity factor was also offered. The program is, at best, headed toward a better and more realistic goal.
Come to think of it, the previous batches of the program in Ifugao were able to gather participants who mostly came from the town proper main villages. Thus, the abovementioned view could be valid. Yet, the query arises: Who shall comprise this year’s edition of the Kapatid Mentor Me Seminar Program? It may soon be answered more appropriately by the DTI-Ifugao Office and its partner agencies. There are operational developments the proponents are heading toward the coming weeks. It is just a matter of time.
DTI Ifugao Director Valentin Baguidudol, who inspired and motivated previous participamts to level up their business prowess, said now that the expanded Kapatid Mentor Me Seminar Program was advanced, “the more difficult portion begins.”
“The incoming program will be able to achieve what we attained previously, where is to equally serve every Filipino in barangays of the province,” he added.
“The program stakeholders should see to it that preparatory measures are completed because venues are distant,” he said.
Baguidudol also said he will follow through with the numerous requirements of the program.
He likewise expects barangay government officials to see it that their counterpart chores or contributions, if any, are at least met. For the most part of it, the budget, personnel and other resources needed, will be significantly provided by the DTI-Ifugao Office.
This time around, the DTI-Ifugao Office is truly thinking outside of the box. Every time you introduce a new variable in the equation, expect things to change.
Undergoing restructuring, the DTI-Ifugao Office is exploring new growth areas while also strengthening its program, partly through bolstering the capacities of its program mentors.
“Ifugao is strategically important as an area of concern and it so happens that this province also fits the focus of President Duterte in curbing poverty incidence,” he pointed out.
According to official figures, most poor Filipinos are found in rural areas.
“Our intention is to broaden the program’s reach in the province thus, be most helpful in the government’s poverty reduction program,” Baguidudol said in an exclusive interview with the ZigZag Weekly.
Baguidudol has transformed the DTI-Ifugao Office, in particular, and the Ifugao economic landscape, in general, into a very promising environment with diversified products and services. His credentials and actions and other programs are laudable and impressive. Overall, Director Baguidudol is a champion of a result-oriented action plan that will enable the government to steer the country toward meaningful development that empowers the poor and the marginalized.
For this undisputed feat, Director Baguidudol hailed the hard work and dedication of the men and women of his office.
Just about the midterm of the Duterte incumbency at the Palace, this game-changing initiative is significant as it is expected to spur greater productivity among small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and reduce poverty. Ifugao is one of the poorest provinces in the Philippines. In the months to come, the DTI-Ifugao Office is expected to come up with interventions for better lives of the people.
The far-away and underserved barangay format and driven Kapatid Mentor Me Seminar approach was envisioned to primarily help folks whose main earnings are derived from agriculture. Sadly, their meager incomes are not enough to meet their basic needs. This is the predicament most especially essential for agriculture, where the poverty incidence of 40 percent is much way above the 25 percent national average.
While the program promises to become a springboard for a better future among impoverished folks with budding entrepreneurial skills that the national government could harness in developing the countryside, the challenges are simply enormous.
Mentoring these folks on how to do things the proper way is easier said than done. Mentors have to be tough in instructing them on the accounting process. Basic accounting entails at least two to three months learning process. Mentors may be pushing hard their luck when it comes to teaching them technical terms. Mentors may be available at all times. How about the mentees who are into farming? Haven’t it cross their minds that there is time constraint problems among the mentees. Not to mention the time for their families. Mentors are there to make sure the “mentees” understand what they have to do and appreciate the lessons that they are trying to learn. It would surely have to come from the mentors why and what to do. Not the other way around. This is the expertise of the mentors who are mostly from Metro Manila, Baguio City and other places.
The program practices a demanding and grueling schedule. Few programs demonstrate so dramatically the difficulties of surviving the entire seminar. A DTI-Ifugao Office employee said a minimum of eight modules always went to seminar course, which have to be completed. Absences are a no-no. The main task each participant is to be “present.” There is no examination or test given at all. Henceforth, seminar completion is evidently rewarding.
At the so-called “graduation” ceremonies of the mentees, Director Baguidudol invites and exhorts the “mentees” to recall the rich resources of hope in their experiences at the seminar.
Learning a lot in the forthcoming seminar can be very difficult for these folks, especially so when you’re in a distant and desolate place where basic social services are inadequate. Considering the high illiteracy rate in remote villages, the need to pilot test such a costly program should be eyed! However, the mentors as well as Director Baguidudol and his highly-dedicated men and women are there to advance the concern for the common good. Much of what they have painstakingly done in the past is worthwhile and relevant. They’ve got to do it all over again! No Ifs and Buts! **By Anthony A. Araos
