Mindanaotoday.com | RTWPB-10 bares top firms in productivity
By: URIEL QUILINGUING
Nine business enterprises in Northern Mindanao received plaques of recognition and prize money on Tuesday, July 18, at Limketkai Luxe Hotel in Cagayan de Oro.
These micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) were regional winners in the Productivity Olympics, a biennial search under the auspices of the National Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board.
Estrella U. Pahalla, Department of Labor and Employment-10 regional director and chairperson of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-10, led the awarding ceremonies.
The nine regional winners were chosen from more than 20 profiled applicants who participated in various trainings, according to lawyer Gretchen D. Lamayan, officer-in-charge of RTWPB-10 Secretariat.
“But we opened it to any MSME who is interested, as long as they comply with the requirements,” Lamayan said, and that they must have been registered in the annual establishment report and compliant with the labor standards.
She said they invited potential MSMEs to focused group discussions on productivity-related issues and must commit themselves to comply with the required documents and submit these on or before the deadline.
The regional winners under the service category are Eastern Terra Enterprises, My’s Point KTV Bar, Eclectic Image Fashion Studio, Camp Zion Retreat and Camping Site Rental, MAQS Logistics Services, and Paglaum Multipurpose Cooperative.
Three others, under the industry category, are Heaven’s Bakehaus & Enterprises, Donau Carbon Philippines Corporation, and Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation.
Eastern Terra, which started in Manticao, Misamis Oriental, has been into printing business over three decades. Today, it has five active branches in Northern Mindanao and has diversified into advertising, fabrication, signages, garments, corporate giveaways, food and catering services.
Cagayan de Oro-based My’s Point KTV Bar started operating when Covid-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020 by renting 17 houses, but offered only food deliveries and food takeout orders. Dine-in customers was allowed only in July of 2020 in its open-space rooftop dining.
Also in Cagayan de Oro is Eclectic Image Fashion Studio (EIFS) which opened to the public its beauty clinic services in 2010 with four make-up artists, who also offered beauty and fashion trainings to young aspirants who wish to learn varied artistic skills.
Aside from make-up, the studio practical skills on hairstyling, fashion designing, seams-sewing, master-cutting, bead-working, laser-cutting, and event planning. Today, EIFS is composed of 29 experienced skilled workers.
Another enterprise that defied financial uncertainties amid the Covid-19 pandemic was Camp Z-ion Retreat & Camping Site Rental in Claveria, Misamis Oriental. What started as a family getaway on a hilltop of Panampawan village with scenic view of Mt. Balatucan in 2020, the nature park became a tourist attraction.
Another Misamis Oriental-based enterprise is MAQS Logistics Services, Inc. which was established in Opol town last 2000 and had been providing logistics services as third-party contractor to San Miguel Brewery, Inc.
(SMB) in northwestern Mindanao. Today, MAQS employs 130 skilled workers, including forklift operators, in four cities with SMB warehouses.
The sixth regional winner in service category is Paglaum Multipurpose Cooperative of Plaridel town, Misamis Occidental which was established in 1992 and started its microfinance operations seven years later. Today, the coop has member-clients province-wide as well as in Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Norte, and Siquijor provinces.
Under industry category, Heaven’s Bakehaus & Enterprises houses Iligan City’s “On Town, One Product” (OTOP), a one-stop retail store where market-ready products are found, including its popular muscovado-filled flatbread known as “Piaya de Iligan”.
In El Salvador City, Donau Carbon Philippines Corporation, which opened its production plant for high-quality granular activated carbon out of coconut shells in 2011, has been exporting its products to over 60 countries.
The ninth regional winner, under industry category, is Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation which is also situated in Iligan City. Though it started as a rubber-shoe manufacturer in 1934, it was reorganized in mid 60s and became the country’s only manufacturer of caustic soda and producer of merchant chlorine today. It has also pioneered in the production of sodium hypochlorite or bleach.
MVC has initiated programs that empower employees through skills training of globally-recognized competencies.
Supervising Labor Enforcement Officer Bernie Boy Salinas of RTWPB-10, the region’s Productivity Olympics focal person, said the nine regional winners received P10 thousand prize money and trophy.
Of the nine, national finalists will be chosen and receive additional P15 thousand. National winners, which will be announced on October 26, this year, will be given P120 thousand prize money.
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