Batu Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative or BAFAMCO is the newest accredited conduit partner of the Department of Labor and Employment Region IX (DOLE 9) through its ZamboangaSibugay Field Office (ZSFO).

DOLE ZSFO Chief LEO Imelda Gatinao awarded BAFAMCO's Certificate of Accreditation to its General Manager Pacita Tenerife and Chairperson of the Board Maribel A. Azuga on January 25, 2018 during the coop's Board Meeting.

After the cooperatives' successful implementation of a TulongPanghanapbuhayparasaAting Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) project in partnership with Coop-NATTCO on July 2016, BAFAMCO can now provide more assistance to their community as an accredited co-partner of DOLE.

DOLE 9 Regional Director Ofelia B. Domingo said that the TUPAD is a community-based (municipality/barangay) package of assistance that provides emergency employment for displaced workers, the underemployed and the unemployed poor for a minimum of 10 days but not to exceed a maximum of 30 days, depending on the program of work.

BAFAMCO, a cooperative based in Batu, Siay, ZamboangaSibugay which envisions a developed, peaceful and healthy community, offers different kinds of loan services, savings deposit, rice trading and farm production inputs.

As DOLE's ACP, BAFAMCO can now serve as an arm to implement DOLE programs and services that will benefit not just their members but also individuals in the community.

BAFAMCO is the second cooperative in the province, after Goodyear Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multipurpose Cooperative (GARBEMCO), accredited as DOLE's conduit partner. END

Joni Sarina Mejico, ZSFO