Gov. Pineda and Board Members Dimson and David-Dizon lead the distribution of P200,000 worth of farm equipment and fertilizers given by the DOLE on Wednesday. With them are Guagua Councilor Toress, Lubao Vice Mayor Diaz and former Mayor Salalila.
Photo by Ric Gonzales
LUBAO, Pampanga – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Wednesday turned over P200,000 worth of farm equipment and fertilizers to sampaguita growers in support of the plan of the provincial government to make the national flower it’s “One Town, One Product (OTOP).”
Guagua town councilor Tonton Torres, who was tasked by Gov. Lilia Pineda to help in improving the more than 50-year-old sampaguita industry of Pampanga, said the DOLE’s assistance was distributed to more than 300 farmers from this town, Guagua and Floridablanca.
“The DOLE’s assistance is a big help and we welcome it in our plan to make sampaguita our OTOP Product ,” said Torres, whose has been a major player in the furniture industry in Pampanga ,giving him the experience to help promote jobs and livelihood generation.
Torres said Pineda and the municipal governments of Lubao, Floridablanca and Guagua are coordinating to turn the sampaguita industry into a “more lucrative and productive business.”
The Industry is chiefly responsible for the livelihood of more than 5,000 families in three towns of Pampanga’s second district, said Torres.
Torres said that Las Pinas Rep. Cynthia Villar, who visited Pineda on Tuesday, expressed her intention to buy “extracted materials of sampaguita,” which could be turned into perfume products.
Torres said the industry is at its low in March and the following months yearly. He said that by storing “extracted sampaguitas” during peak season would help stabilize the product’s prices and the supply all year round.
Board Member Salvador Dimson Jr. of Lubao, who was accompanied by Board Member Fritzie David-Dizon, Lubao Vice Mayor Tito Diaz and former Sta. Rita town Mayor Arthur Salalila in the distribution at the Lubao Gym here, said the industry “was in Lubao for as long as (he) can remember.”
He said the Sampaguita farming had helped “several families send their children to school up to college.”
“But of late, the industry needs attention for many reasons. So the province and other agencies such as the DOLE and Department of Agriculture are coordinating to revive the industry,” said Dimson.
