Bay, Laguna —
The Department of Trade
and Industry – Laguna
Provincial Office (DTI-Laguna) in partnership
with Calamba Manpower Development Center
(CMDC) held a successful training seminar with
diverse topics from Food
Safety, Packaging and Labeling Requirements, Pricing and Costing, Google
My Business, to Consumer Rights and Responsibilities at Sectoral Affairs
Conference Room, City
Hall, Calamba City, Laguna, last May 31, 2023.
The event was
attended by the personnel from CMDC and
Tourism Sector together
with their trainees and
graduates from qualifications in bread and pastry
production, culinary arts,
and food and beverages
services under Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority. A
total of seventy-three (73)
participants were recorded
in attendance. The theme
of the event centered on
shaping the food industry
in the coming years and
providing business and
consumer education to potential and existing micro,
small, and medium enterprises in Laguna.
This activity was
presided by the moderator, Ms. Joanna Marie M.
Malihan, and coming after
was an invocation led by
Ms. Zenisa S. Alinsunurin.
This was followed by a
warm welcome message
from Ms. Celina Dacara-Manabat, RSW, Department Head of City Social Services Department,
and the formal introduction
of the resource speakers
from Mr. Tonymer Victor L.
Castillo, Manpower Development Officer I.
The first resource
speaker, Ms. Josephine
Ballesteros, DTI-Laguna
Negosyo Center Business
Counsellor assigned in
Siniloan, discussed about
Food Safety. She highlighted the importance of food
safety and how it plays an
important role in the reputation of an establishment.
According to Ballesteros, if
foods are not safe, negative outcomes will happen
including loss of earnings,
negative media exposure,
lawsuits, lowered staff morale, and possibly death.
She also cited the Food
Safety Act 2013 (Republic
Act No. 10611), an act to
strengthen the food safety
regulatory system in the
country to protect consumer health and facilitate
market access of local
foods and food products
and for other purposes.
The second
speaker, Mr. Cris Mark
Bermudo, DTI-Laguna
Negosyo Center Business Counsellor assigned
in Mabitac, tackled the
Packaging and Labeling
Requirements. For packaging, he mentioned the
phrase “protects what it
sells, and sells what it protects” and discussed the
importance of packaging
for food safety as it protects the food from contamination, improves shelf
life, protects from physical
damage, and maintains
the freshness of the food.
He also emphasized the
requirements for labeling
that it should not contain
a false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to create an erroneous impression.
The third speaker, Ms. Rica Mae Garcia,
DTI-Laguna Negosyo
Center Business Counsellor assigned in Majayjay,
talked about Pricing and
Costing as she highlighted
the significance of pricing,
strategies of pricing, importance of costing, and
different ways to maximize
your profit using the right
pricing and costing.
The fourth
speaker, Mr. Nicols Con
signado, DTI-Laguna
Negosyo Center Business
Counsellors assigned in
Santa Maria, showed the
step-by-step process on
navigating Google My
Business. The objective of
this topic is to turn people
on how to find and create
a business profile with
Google as this is an easyto-use tool for businesses and organizations to
manage online presence
across Google.
The fifth and last
speaker, Ms. Avegail Agojo, DTI-Laguna Negosyo
Center Business Counsellor assigned in Bay,
imparted knowledge about
the Rights and Responsibilities of Consumers. She
started the flow with the
question “Naloko na ba
kayo (as a consumer)?” as
this topic focused on how
the consumers should be
more conscious and cautious in selecting products and services with an
assurance of quality and
safety at its competitive
price. Other than that, she
also deliberated and gave
examples and scenarios
to the eight (8) rights and
five (5) responsibilities of
consumers.
To end the fruitful seminar, a closing remarks was delivered by
CMDC Supervising Manpower Development Officer Mr. Leonardo D. Dela
Cruz, Jr. and certificates
of appreciation to the resource speakers and partners were awarded spearheaded by Ms. Charito L.
Sarmiento together with
the CMDC Officers, Trainers, and Staff. (ADAgojo,
DTI-Laguna
