DAR Spearheads Round Table Discussion with Various Agencies

The Department of Agrarian Reform of Basilan, headed by PARO Suwaib Ismael, and the joint operations of Task Force Philippines and Task Force Archipelago of the Philippine Armed Forces and the U.S. Civil Affairs Team, led by Capt. Tanner Fleck, held a round table discussion at Camp Biel with different government and private offices and the academe.

The main driving force behind the discussion is the fact that agriculture is top economic driver and source of employment in Basilan where roughly half of this economic output and jobs come from the agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations. With thirteen (13) agrarian reform communities in Basilan,  eleven (11) of which are in ARMM and two (2) are under the jurisdiction of Region IX, each has experienced some levels of difficulty in staying afloat with profits and/or meeting its financial obligations. Instability within this industry affects the entire province and has the potential to become a security concern for the Philippine security force.

Lt. Col. Melisar Raymund Recaido, deputy commander of 104th Brigade, welcomes the participants in behalf of Col. Carlito Galvez, the brigade commander

PARO Suwaib Ismael hails the gathering as a breakthrough to massive changes in the cooperative movement

The discussion panel aims to enable a shift in mindset from agrarian community to commercial business, stabilize ARC operations through revenue stream diversification, improve ARC financial literal and understanding business management techniques, and set the conditions for increased private investment through business model development.

 Capt. Tanner Fleck, civil affairs team commander of Task Force Archipelago, gives the rationale/introduction of the round table discussion

Desired end state of the discussion is the establishment of a technical support program that is low cost, utilizing local resources; sustainable, institutionalizing the program; persistent, capable of long-term engagement with ARCs; and comprehensive, with scope covering all thirteen (13) ARCs.

DAR's Engr. Ronald Gadaingan presents an overview of agrarian reform cooperatives in Basilan

 UWARBMPC manager Rafael Enriquez, a former banker, shares his cooperative experience

 Rodel Ramonez of LARBECO also shares his cooperative experience from the point of view of a chairman of the board of directors

Technical support program encompasses basic financial literacy analysis, business management techniques, business model development and implementation, revenue stream diversification, and packaging business opportunities for financing.

Possible courses of action include outsourcing to a firm with expertise on certain fields, public-private partnership with universities, pattern a model cooperative program, conduct trainer’s training program within the DAR, grant through US Embassy or USAID, establish the spirit of America NGO, and establish cooperative exchange program.

UWARBMPC reacts to the issues besetting the ARB organizations in the province

Rafael Flores of DAR facilitates the workshop in identifying problems, issues, needs and concerns of the agrarian reform communities

Participants to the discussion are representatives two progressive ARB organizations of the province, Lamitan Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative and United Workers Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multi-Purpose Cooperative, faculty members from Ateneo de Zamboanga and Basilan State College, Department of Labor, Department of Trade and Industry, and Provincial Agriculturist Office.