The municipality of Padre Garcia, Batangas has been engaging
in livestock trading since the 1950’s. However, by
the 1990’s, this livelihood has not been generating
as much income as was initially hoped. As a result, the
Todo Unlad program was created to bring about improvements
to the residents’ P400 to P600 income per market day.
With this program, the residents of the municipality
were able to participate in either the livestock auction
market, the public market, or the heavy equipment support
program. The livestock auction market encouraged the participation
of the livestock traders that live either in the municipality
or in other provinces. The public market allows the residents
of the municipality to buy the livestock raised in the area
with convenience. Moreover, different types of facilities
and management systems were established to help the municipality
improve their trading industry.
The municipal government was also able to look for
other ways to support this program. An example would be
the banning the selling of liquors, gambling, and unnecessary
travelling of large trucks to protect the livestock traders
and raisers from crimes like robbery or hold-up.
With the unfailing support given the by municipal
government as seen in the measures it has taken, the number
of livestock traded increased from a weekly average of 1,200
to 1,500 heads. The program was able to increase the weekly
income from P25,000 to P35,000. In addition to that, the
auction market encouraged the cooperatives to venture out
into other businesses, such as feeds production, poultry
and livestock dispersal.
