LT EYES COMPLETION OF COMMUNITY BUSINESS CENTER
The completion of the La Trinidad Community Business Center near the La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Post might soon come into the horizon with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture.
The DA, through Daniel Alfonso Atayde, DA Asst. Secretary for logistics, expressed interest on the revised three-floor plan for the structure, Municipal engineer Benedict Pineda, presented in a meeting.
The meeting, with mayor Roderick Awingan and Danilo Daguio, DA-Cordillera regional technical director for operations, in attendance, tackled the center’s way forward. The center was initially constructed in 2016 but got stalled due to contractual and usage concerns that were raised by the DA ‘s Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS) following an audit.
Atayde, speaking through Zoom, said they will study the completion of the business center based on Pineda’s presentation in a bid to fully make the center operational for the town’s farmers and traders.
The direction, however, hinges on two factors – the old Memorandum of Agreement executed between the LGU and DA for the structure’s erection need to be rescinded for the execution of a new pact and the LGU’s return of the unused amount of P8 million still in the coffers of the municipality.
John Fernandez Jr., AMAS legal officer, said the twin moves will bring back the DA and the LGU to a fresh start.
The original MOA between the DA and the LGU was signed in 2015 when the agency was set to fund the building with P30 million with the LGU chipping in P11 million as local counterpart. The project, which sits on a 744 square meter, got stalled as the promised DA funding was not completed.
As of April of 2026, the LGU received a total of P27 million with 60 percent of the project completed. But the project got stalled when an audit team from the AMAS recommended an amendment of the MOA to reflect the interim actual use of the facility and redo some engineering works on the project.
The AMAS held the release of the succeeding funding until the LGU could hurdle the corrective measures. The P8 million now in the custody of the LGU was unspent. Following the recommendation of the AMAS, Awingan said the LGU will be returning the unutilized amount in order to pave the way for a new contract with the DA.
The community business center will become part of the income generating establishments of the municipality, which will house local agri-entrepreneurs featuring the best products from La Trinidad.
𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥.The municipal government of La Trinidad led by Mayor Roderick Awingan together with Municipal Engineer Benedict Pineda, Municipal Agriculturist Nida Organo, and Councilor Belmer Elis attended the meeting led by the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera with DA-CAR Regional Technical Director for Operations Danilo Daguio last Aug. 13 to discuss the completion of the La Trinidad Community Business Center. The Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center's concerns were also discussed during the meeting also attended by Benguet State University President Kenneth Laruan and BAPTC Deputy General Manager Richard Dumapis.
Author & Photographer: 𝘖. 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘯
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