Self-reliant folks address economy this pandemic

HAPPY WEEKEND

By Gina Dizon

SAGADA, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE-  Francesca manages a souvenir shop frequented by tourists who came in droves during weekends. That was before the Covid pandemic hit this tourist town March this year till now. 

Now that the Covid virus has reared its ugly head, Francesca sells whatever stuff she can display at her once souvenir shop to feed a family.

She sells vegetables- beans, cabbage, eggplant, green pepper and fruits- dragon fruit, santol, watermelon, bananas, coconuts -both from local harvest and from neighboring places as Isabela and Quirino.

She also sells ornamentals as roses and hibiscus transported from Baguio and other flowering plants she herself has propagated.

And like the rest of the other souvenir shops, Francesca also goes into selling wagwag popularly called ukay- ukay and existing dry goods in her store. 

This she does while hopeful that her loan application from Small Business Corporation (SBC) facilitated by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in its Covid 19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises (CARES) loan program for entrepreneurs be approved.

Some of Francesca’s goods on sale expired and not bought during the start of the Covid pandemic with the non- arrival of tourists March this year.

If her loan application gets approved, she said she will use the money as capital to produce her own products.

                Like other places dependent on tourism,  Sagada’s many tourism stakeholders including tourist guides, souvenir shop owners, cafe and restaurant proprietors, and homestay and inn keepers had been hardest hit when Covid-19 prevented tourists from visiting the town.

And among them are some 50 souvenir shops owners in town who were hardest hit by the pandemic. 

Josephine who manages a souvenir shop when asked the difference in sales when tourism was on the go and when tourism dropped said  she incurred a 100% drop in sales.    

Another souvenir shop owner, Belinda converted her souvenir shop to selling dry goods-  sugar, salt, noodles, cookies, pasta and all kinds of dry goods. 

With need for big capital not many ventured into this.

Also managing their respective homestay, Francesca and Belinda and the rest of some 150 inn keepers of the Sagada Inns and Homestay Association (SIHA) pooled money to help the other.

With a collected monthly amount one takes the pooled funds alternately until all have taken their share.

Others in the tourism business are making processed foods and still cooking and packing their usual jams, jellies, pickles, bread, wine and these sold to Manila.

A private- public partnership of  a private person based in Manila and the LGU through the office of the municipal agriculturist (OMAG)  goes into a marketing venture. The OMAG coordinates the orders from a private person in Manila and the products transported to the waiting buyers.

Another marketing venture which helps farmers in selling  their vegetable products is the department of agrarian reform (DAR) through its Linksfarm program. 

Other private initiatives are The Sagada Harvests Project in partnership with Nuwang Enterprises of Sagada and other individual efforts  directly marketing the towns' products- both veggies and processed foods in Baguio and Manila.. 

              Vegetables marketed in Manila are  produced  by the usual farmer-residents of the town and a number of new gardeners who turned to farming.

While individuals and groups have moved into making their own recovery initiatives, the municipality’s tourism office is awaited what program it can do to help the many households who are into tourism industry in town with the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) P58 billion recovery program for tourism stakeholders.

Yet, self reliant folks seemingly in this tourist town are not that optimistic for government support as loans but would be thankful if such come true to ease the effect of the pandemic.

With stringent requirements, the SBC-DTI has only approved 30 applicants from the many applicants in Mountain Province, it was learned.

The SBC-DTI loan is specially offered to those whose business are into manufacturing and whose sales have been mostly affected during this pandemic. 

In agriculture, only 200 farmers out of 500 identified farmers have been approved to avail of the no-interest and non-collateral loan of P25,000 per farmer from the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Credit Policy Council loan program.

The rest of many traditional farmers who utilize their harvest for home consumption are not qualified to avail of the service as they did not lose ay harvest. Nor those who are beginning to get into gardening as an alternative source of income.

Many turned into gardening as noted in the increase of sales of commercial fertilizer in local stores.

                Sagada is basically an agricultural town populated by some 13,000 residents with some 3,300 households with almost half of the households into tourism as homestay and inn keepers, souvenir shops owners, café and resto proprietors, masseurs, and tourist guides.   

Just a few hundreds of the 3,300 households are employed in government as teachers and personnel in the LGU and government line agencies who receive regular pay.

The rest of some estimated 90 % of the populace are private individuals who either have their own business, employed in private cooperatives, and a number who manage their own farms or work as seasonal construction workers and farm laborers. 

Meantime, other residents do home cooked food to augment their income.

Minerva sells home- cooked food- lumpia, turon, kutchinta, shanghai- which are pre -ordered via Facebook and text messages.   

Minerva is one among some young women who sell home cooked food and these being bought by friends, neighbors and relatives.

Weavers continue to weave waiting for the right time when the pandemic shall end and able to get back again to selling their stuff to tourists and the outside market.

And is it possible to sell their woven goods just like how the LGU is coordinating the sale of veggies and processed foods in Manila.

Trade specialist Yakima Cadiogan from the DTI in one recovery forum facilitated via webinar said the product has to be inspected by and photographed by DTI to be included in the DTI’s OTOP (one town one product) shop to ensure quality sale.

Money is limited coming in except for the salaries of a few government personnel and the innovations on Sagada veggies and home processed food marketed in Manila.

Some families turn to family members who luckily are gainfully employed abroad apart from food produce from the land. 

Still, money is needed to pay outstanding loans and other financial obligations most especially.

                Community volunteer Gwen Gaongen who also works with DOT noted there is a need to infuse money from outside.