Pres. Aquino to Turn Over MSME Facilities in Pangasinan on March 14

Dagupan City – President Benigno Aquino III will visit Pangasinan on Monday, March 14 to turn over processing machines and tools to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in 23 towns.

Known as Shared Service Facilities (SSF), the project is part of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) “Big Push Program,” a strategic initiative that would help MSMEs to be more prepared and confident on gaining their spot in the global market. It aims to improve the quality and productivity of entrepreneurs by addressing the gaps and bottlenecks in the value chain of priority industry clusters through the provision of processing machines and tools housed in facilities of private sector partners for the common use of the MSMEs.

Natalia Dalaten, chief trade and industry development specialist of DTI-Pangasinan, said the service facilities costing P18,310,328 will be given to beneficiaries in 23 Pangasinan towns.

“The program involves providing facilities shared by a number of beneficiaries, such as cooperatives, institutions and communities, to help them compete both in the local and world markets and we are lucky because we will have the President who will personally turn-over the facilities to our beneficiaries,” Dalaten said.

President Aquino, along with Secretary Senen Sarmiento of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and DTI Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya, will oversee the completion of the delivery of the facilities which generated at least 2,700 jobs and assisted 1,453 micro, small and medium enterprises in the province.

Dalaten added the government project has increased the production volume, market capture and sales generation of the beneficiaries who already received the facilities they requested.

“The bangus processing expansion project in Malimgas market in Dagupan for example used to produce 250 packs of marinated deboned, smoked and lumpiang bangus. After the government gave the facilities to them, their production ballooned to 650 packs a day which they distributed to additional markets in Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and Bulacan. This also perked up their sales to more than 60 percent,” Dalaten said.

After the event in Dagupan City, the President will proceed to Urdaneta City to turn-over a four-storey, 24 classroom building of the Urdaneta 1 Central School to the Department of Education.

The building, amounting to P48,019,514, was constructed on April 21, 2015 and completed on March 11 this year.

He will later appear in a campaign sortie of the administration’s Liberal Party candidates at the Urdaneta Cultural Center.

The President will return to Pangasinan nearly two years after his last visit in June 2014 when he condoled with the family of assassinated Urbiztondo Mayor Ernesto Balolong Jr., an LP member.

He also campaigned in Urdaneta City in May 2013 for his candidates. (PIA-1/Pangasinan)