Mothers belonging to a women’s organization in Surigao City are now undergoing a short training on meat processing with the hope of finding more opportunities to increase their income amid the continuing threat of the pandemic.

A total of 52 members of Punta Bilar Women’s Association (PBWA) from Punta Bilar, Surigao City are currently involved in the four-day livelihood activity.

“The training involves basic meat processing with end-products such as longanisa, embotido, and tocino,” Desily Awid, technical staff from the Livestock Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) 13 (Caraga), told Philippine News Agency on Wednesday.

The first batch of 30 member-trainees started on Tuesday and ended Wednesday, while the remaining 22 participants will train on Thursday and Friday, she said.

Awid said the training is being implemented in collaboration with the Surigao City Veterinary Office.

In a separate interview, PBWA president Erlinda Placero, 67, said the organization is certain that meat processing and production are profitable businesses that can augment the income of the livelihood program of their organization.

The PBWA is a recipient of the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in 2018.

“Our organization received PHP444,000 livelihood assistance through the SLP which we used in different projects,” Placeros said.

She added that in October 2019, the organization started its neighborhood sundry store project with a capital of PHP372,000.

“Our store is selling all the basic household needs of our members and to the rest of the residents in Punta Bilar. Eventually, we decided to venture into meat processing and production of meat products that will also be sold in our store,” Placeros said.

Maria Teresa Suan, another PBWA member, 52, thanked the DA-13 and the Surigao Veterinary Office for the training.

“This training will help our organization grow. We are thankful that the government has programs and services that cater to the needs of different organizations, including us mothers,” Suan said.

The capitalization that the government, through the SLP program, has provided to the organization has helped PBWA members survive the economic crunch brought by the pandemic.

“Our members have an organization and a livelihood program to depend on during this health crisis,” Placeros said.

The venture into meat processing, she added, will further boost the sundry store business of the organization.

“Different processed meat produced by the organization will be the new products in our store,” Placeros said.

She said the production of longanisa, embotido, and tocino only requires simple equipment that can be procured by the organization.

The ingredients of the products, Placeros pointed out, can be easily accessed and procured at the market centers in Surigao City. (PNA)