The Department of Labor and Employment Regional Office IX (DOLE 9) in partnership with Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board IX (RTWPB-9) conducted Basic Bookkeeping and 7s of Good Housekeeping Seminar to 10 Project HOPE (Helping Others Prosper Economically) Team Leaders and their dependents on January 22, 2019 at Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone (ZAMBOECOZONE) Conference Room.

RTWPB 9 Chairperson and DOLE 9 Regional Director Ofelia B. Domingo said in an interview that this capacity building activity is an integral part of Project HOPE as it will arm team leaders and their dependents in engaging with the financial and operational aspect of agribusiness.

Sabino T. Romero Jr. of RTWPB discussed to the participants the importance of bookkeeping in a business. He shared different strategies and sample forms on how to monitor the health of the business.

Mr. Romero also discussed the 7s of Good Housekeeping which is mainly waste elimination and inclusion of safety and sustainability. After the seminar, the team leaders toured Mr. Romero on the farm.

Mr. Romero encouraged all of 20 participants to begin their inventory with already existing materials and to start practicing the 7s of Good Housekeeping.

Jocelyn Magrenia, Team Leader of Mega Ayala Seafoods and Project HOPE Workers Association Business Manager shared that she learned many things after the seminar. She said that through the different forms, she now knows how to record the accounts receivable and payable which will be handy especially when they start earning after the harvest.

Other team leaders are Mary Jean Gonzaga of Permex Producer and Exporter Corp., Pany Lorete of Century Pacific Food Inc., Herminia Sueco of Bigfish Foods Corp., Estelita Quijano of Aquatic Food Manufacturing Corp., Angel Bañoza of Fortune Group Corp., Lorena Garcia of Southwest Asian Canning Corporation, Jocelyn Magrenia of Mega Ayala Seafoods Corp., Adam Sawban of Mega Talisayan., Vladimir De Leon of Goldstar Seafood, and Jimmy Longno of Universal Canning Inc.

Project HOPE is DOLE 9’s holistic intervention for the fishing and canning industry workers displaced and their dependents during the annual closed fishing season which includes emergency employment, training, retooling and livelihood. END/With reports from Joni Sarina R. Mejico, LEO-III. DOLE ZCFO