MinDA to start livelihood in conflict, poorest areas

THE MINDANAO Development Authority (MinDA) will organize a team of agriculture experts, who will conduct a lecture series on livelihood projects targeting Mindanao’s poorest provinces, especially the conflict areas, starting January 2020.

Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said that agriculture experts will teach rural folk on raising backyard native chicken, goat raising, cattle fattening and vegetable farming.

“My advocacy is to achieve peace and prosperity in Mindanao through simple livelihood projects” said Piñol as he is joined by Arnel Corpuz in his advocacy, an OFW who had long experience in cattle fattening in Australia and also owns the Adelaide Farm.

The livelihood projects will be hosted under the Livelihood Opportunities in Villages for Economic Upliftment (LOVE-U) Program which aims to reduce poverty and contribute to

attainment of peace and security in Mindanao. “We will identify priority areas for the lecture series which include the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Maguindanao and Saranggani, which are among the 10 poorest provinces in the country, and the areas recently devastated by the series of earthquakes”, Piñol emphasized. The island provinces of Basilan and Tawi-Tawi which are being positioned as the sources of supplies needed in reopening of the Barter Trade with Sabah are also identified as priority areas for the LOVE-U program. In a recent visit to Sabah, Malaysia late last month, Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal informed Secretary Piñol during a call on him with Asian Development Bank (ADB) Executive Director Paul Dominguez that the State needs supply of Halal Beef, Goat Meat, Kampung Chicken (free-ranged native chicken), fruits like Mango and Banana and vegetables because of its growing tourism industry which draws 4 million visitors every year. Pinol said that the Sabah Chief Minister agreed to engage farmers from Mindanao, especially the three island provinces, to supply the commodities that they need. To supply the needs of the local people and the prospective Sabah market, MinDA will undertake the training of agriculture stakeholders. “After the training, they will be organized and given production support while MinDA will be linking up with its funding partners to support the organized farmers group,” said Piñol. Pinol also said that an agriculture and trade mission to be led by MinDA is scheduled to visit Sabah and Sarawak in the third week of January 2020. # Livelihood Opportunities to Rural Communities. Cattle-fattening technology will be shared by Arnel Corpuz, who owns Adelaide Farm in Polomolok, South Cotabato. Mr Corpuz will join Secretary Piñol in series of lectures in the island provinces of Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi as MinDA will roll-out next year the Livelihood Opportunities in Villages for Economic Upliftment (LOVE-U) Program which aims to address poverty and achieve peace and stability by providing livelihood through poultry raising, goat raising, cattle fattening, and vegetable growing.

P&A Grant Thornton Tax Advisory and Compliance Head Atty. Eleanor Roque was recently named a Woman in Tax Leader in the Philippines by World Tax in association with the International Tax Review (ITR). She is one of five Filipinas cited in the ninth edition of the annual list of the world’s leading tax practitioners. Within the Grant Thornton global network of independent assurance, tax, and advisory firms, Atty. Roque is among 17 Grant Thornton professionals on the Women in Tax list. Atty. Roque has been in the tax practice for more than 20 years. Prior to joining P&A Grant Thornton in 2009, she was a Tax Director of Grant Thornton Vietnam for two years. Roque is currently President of the Tax Management Association of the Philippines, as well as a member of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. The Women in Tax Leaders are nominated by their peers and the business community and are recommended as highly regarded and trusted advisers. This year, the Euromoneypublished ITR surveyed more than 9,900 professionals from around the globe, asking who they would refer their clients to in the event of a conflict or recommend as a local representative in another jurisdiction. Those named in the guide are considered market leaders with decades of experience behind them.