New role for Quedancor mulled

MANILA, Philippines - Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala, who is also chairman of Quedancor, is taking a fresh look at the role of Quedancor in assisting agri-fishery busi-nesses through credit for farmers and fisherfolk.

Alcala, together with Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio R. delos Reyes, put with the Quedancor governing board last week.

They were briefed by Quedancor president and CEO Federico A. Espiritu on the financial and operational situation of the corporation.

Being explored is the potential role of Quedancor in providing guaranteed credit to the planned Food Trading Posts that will be established in strategic production and marketing centers nationwide.

The board also tackled the possible utilization of 97 satellite farmer warehouses funded by the Department of Agrarian Reform in the 1990s that may now serve as catalysts for convergent support services being planned by De los Reyes.

Espiritu said teams will be fielded to inspect 22 more farmer warehouses to determine their suitability in the DAR’s convergence initiatives in its Agrarian Reform Communities nationwide.

Espiritu said a technical working group is in the process of finalizing the extension of an existing memorandum of agreement by another five years with the DAR, with the possibility of infusing DA’s new thrusts in the provision of credit guarantees to the agri-fishery sector.