DSWD launches Sibol Lokal Project | DSWD Field Office CARAGA

Posted on March 4, 2022

On February 24, 2022, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office Caraga, through the Sustainable Livelihood Program, launched the Sibol Lokal Project – a mini trade fair that will be conducted every Monday of the week. The activity kicked off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by OIC-Regional Director Ramel Jamen (2nd person from R), OIC-Asst. Regional Director for Operations Jean Paul Parajes (2nd person from L), OIC-Asst. Regional Director for Administration Ramil Taculod (1st person from R), and SLP Regional Program Coordinator Mary Ann Manla (1st person from L).

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office Caraga, through the Sustainable Livelihood Program and in collaboration with the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP), has launched Sibol Lokal Project – a mini trade fair, on February 24 at the New Covered Court of the Field Office.

Sibol Lokal, which will be conducted every Monday afternoon starting next week at the DSWD Covered Court, is a regional promotion and marketing initiative that aims to showcase and advocate SLP products and services and to boost the DSWD employees and the general public’s interest in patronizing the products and services offered by the various SLP program participants in the region.

OIC-Regional Director Ramel Jamen, in his message, said that Field Office Caraga has devised this initiative because the office believes that the SLP micro-enterprises and other micro, small, and medium enterprises take a critical role in magnifying the economy of the country.

Sibol Lokal is a regional promotion and marketing initiative that aims to showcase and advocate SLP products and services and to boost the DSWD employees and the general public’s interest in patronizing the products and services offered by the various SLP program participants in the region. This mini trade fair will be a weekly activity and will be specifically conducted every Monday afternoon.

Jamen also emphasized that DSWD employees should be the foremost advocates in promoting the products and services of the SLP associations to the public. “As DSWD staff, it is our call to personally know these products, extend our utmost support, and promote this to the public proudly. We shall remember that through the DSWD and the SLP, we have provided our communities at the grassroots level with opportunities that helped them improve their socio-economic wellbeing”.

Further, EPAHP Caraga shall also extend a helping arm to the DSWD-SLP by providing assistance to the Field Office and to the associations in terms of market linkages.

*OIC-Asst. Regional Director for Administration Ramil Taculod gathers the products he bought from the mini trade fair.*

Aside from SLP products and services, the Sumilihon-Taguibo Farmer’s Association (SUTAFA), composed of beneficiaries from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), has also been invited to join the activity and will be selling fresh fruits and vegetables regularly as well.

The concept of Sibol Lokal was derived from Likhang Hiraya – a photo exhibit and product trade fair initiated by the National Program Management Office of SLP last 2021. In the Caraga Region, the Field Office decided to launch the Sibol Lokal so that the general public will become more familiar with the products of the SLPAs and provide a venue for the SLPAs to sell their products, especially in this time of pandemic.###(Social Marketing Section/DSWD Field Office Caraga)