The Department of Trade and Industry's One Town, One Product (OTOP) program has opened doors to many micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) all over the country including the province of Cotabato.
PHOTO CREDIT: PIA Region 12
In the province, the program has played a significant role in improving small businesses and changing the lives of their owners.
Like in the case of Sherile Velasco of Barangay Kalasuyan in Kidapawan City and owner and manager of the Art of Velasco who shared the impact of being a recipient of the DTI program.
She said that with the OTOP Program of the DTI, she was exposed to skills training and seminars that enhanced her capabilities to start and manage her own business.
Her business, The Art of Velasco, located in Kidapawan City, is a souvenir shop where the public can purchase different souvenir items and customized handicrafts.
Velasco described the OTOP program as a life-changing intervention.
She added that yes she have the determination and skills, but it was the program that helped her to elevate her products to a new level and to think big.
Meanwhile, Shiela Livera, owner of SJC Food Products in Kidapawan City, said DTI deserves to be given a "perfect score" when it comes to the impact of its programs on beneficiaries.
If I were to rate DTI’s assistance from one to 10, it would be a 10 because the SJC would not have been recognized without the DTI, she pointed out.
Livera said that through the various trainings she attended under the OTOP program, she was able to improve the packaging and labeling aspects of her products, particularly their best-selling "Kape Kidapawan."
Explaining in Filipino, "the packaging of our products greatly improved; you wouldn’t be ashamed to market them, she said, recalling how she used to pay P500 to P600 before just for the layout outsourcing of her products’ labels.
Velasco and Livera are just two of the many beneficiaries of the OTOP program in the province of Cotabato and the entire Soccsksargen, whose lives changed because of the DTI's initiative and determination to help MSMEs improve their businesses to be competitive and on par with the others in the country.
Through the OTOP program, both business owners said their income has gained traction over the years. The Art of Velasco now earns P300,000 to P400,000 annually, while SJC Food Products’ Kape Kidapawan is earning a profit of P23,000 to almost P30,000 per month.
Until now, DTI has continuously sent them to exhibits and fairs, enabling them to create and strengthen linkages with potential markets. (Source: Philippine Information Agency)
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