By Perla Lena/PNA
ILOILO CITY — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Iloilo province is taking pride on how the shared service facility (SSF) for garments provided to the municipality of Lambunao operates.
“So far, the best shared service facility is the garment-making in Lambunao,” DTI Iloilo Director Engr. Diosdado Cadena Jr. said in an interview last week.
The SSF is a major component of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) program that aims to improve the competitiveness of MSMEs by providing them with machinery, equipment, tools, systems, skills and knowledge, under a shared system.
Sofia Halago, the town’s municipal accountant and the manager of the Lambunao Garments and Prints, said they received 38 sewing machines, a power generator and rotary machine for printing in the first quarter of 2015.
“Lambunao Garments and Prints is LGU (local government unit)-owned and managed under the Municipal Development and Economic Enterprise Development Office (MEEDO),” she explained in an interview Wednesday.
The economic enterprise of the municipality currently has 28 workers composed of unemployed women, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) and senior citizens who are paid per piece and five support staff who work full-time.
She narrated that at the start of their operation in 2014, they posted PHP2.4 million in gross income; around PHP2 million in 2015; PHP2.6 in 2016; and almost PHP3 million last year.
As of this time, they have around PHP3.7 million to already include receivables.
Their clients include the neighboring local government units in Iloilo, selected towns in Antique, Aklan, Capiz, and even Guimaras; universities and schools.
“As far as the operation cost is concerned, we can say that it is now self-sustaining because the LGU no longer provide assistance for the operations of the garments,” she said.
In previous years, they have to ask assistance from the LGU for their operations.
With more clients coming in, the host local government has provided them PHP2 million for the construction of a new building.
It was hailed a regional winner as performing SSF in 2015 and a runner-up in the national level.
As a prize, they will be receiving an embroidery machine that is about to be delivered to the town anytime soon.
Halago said that for the operations to be successful, they have to establish a control systemm such that the income generated by the SSF can help sustain its operation.
“As a municipal accountant, my number one concern is to minimize the cost and maximize the profit,” she said.
The Lambunao SSF is just one of the 11 shared service facilities established in Iloilo, Cadena said.
Others are the SSF for coco coir production in Tubungan; SSF for labeling and packaging in Tigbauan; SSF for fruit processing treatment initially designed for mangoes in Leon; SSF for abaca processing established in three sites in Maasin; SSF for packaging and labeling; fruits and nuts processing in Pavia; fruit processing in Bingawan; and SSF for engineered bamboo at the University of the Philippines Visayas.
The cooperators could either be private sector, or local government units.
Under the SSF, the site is being provided by the cooperator or partner. They should ready the site to house the facility, Cadena explained.
It should have also management and technical capability and working capital.
“The facility is a grant from the DTI but for two years, the property is still with the DTI. We will transfer the ownership once we see that they are capable to manage the project. If not, it will be transferred to the local government,” Cadena said.
The provincial director said each SSF can assist some 30 to 50 MSMEs, create employment and gainful income to supplier of raw materials.
“We claim that all SSFs in Iloilo are up and running and have benefited our micro small and medium enterprises,” he said.
This year, Cadena said about PHP6 million worth of projects have been approved and ready for procurement for Iloilo.
These are the SSF for the furniture-making venture of a group of persons with disabilities in Leganes; chocolate-making in Dingle; fish processing facility at the Iloilo State College of Fisheries in Barotac Nuevo and at the Northern Iloilo Polytechnic State College (NIPSC) in Estancia; handloom weaving in Miagao and Tigbauan; and the upgrading of the pottery-making industry in Lambunao.
