Ms. Dee Dimaisip Bat-og has been mentoring a group of young farmers belonging to the Moro and Indigenous Peoples from PALMA municipalities. They dreamt of starting a social entrepreneurial initiative through coffee. They organized themselves and formed PeaceCreed Philippines. They found it best to learn social entrepreneurship and quality coffee production framed in Peace and Reconciliation (PAR) principles. They called PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. and Coffee For Peace to help them.
Seah Olimpain (PeaceCreed Program Leader), Dee Bat-og (PeaceCreed Mentor), Joji Pantoja (Coffee For Peace CEO), Sihaya Ansibod (PBCI Field Operations Director), and Lakan Sumulong (PBCI DreamWeaver) strategize together towards the establishment of a viable coffee social entrepreneurial movement in PALMA municipalities. 18 February 2019. PeaceBuilders Community Center, Davao City.
PALMA Alliance — an economic cooperation among the North Cotabato municipalities of Pigcawayan, Pikit, Aleosan, Libungan, Midsayap, and Alamada — supported their initiative and appointed representatives to learn the PBCI-CFP approach in producing world-class quality coffee, framed in the values of relational harmony.
Last 07-08 February 2019, the PALMA Alliance representatives, along with Ms. Dee and leaders of PeaceCreed Philippines went through the initial training at the PeaceBuilders Inclusive Development Learning Center in Managa, Bansalan, Davao del Sur.
We’re hoping that this would be the beginning of a possible partnership between PBCI-CFP and the PALMA Alliance through the bridging leadership of Ms. Dee and the PeaceCreed Philippines.
Sonny Bautista, Manager of PeaceBuilders Inclusive Development Training Center, demonstrates to the PALMA folks how to harvest coffee cherries properly. After the motivational talks and story-telling by the award-winning coffee producer Marivic Dubria — second from the left — the PALMA representatives take some moments for photo opportunity. The lady in green shirt sitting at the front right is Ms. Dee.
Sonny Bautista explains how a coffee cherry would be processed through the depulping and dehulling machines at the PeaceBuilders Inclusive Development Training Center in Managa, Bansalan, Davao del Sur.
PALMA representatives watch as Sonny Bautista demonstrates the process of depulping using our machine at the PeaceBuilders Inclusive Development Training Center.After the actual demonstration, Sonny Bautista answers questions from the PALMA representatives.The PALMA representatives get a hands-on experience of coffee sorting based on Coffee For Peace standards.The careful sorting of coffee beans are experienced by PALMA farmers. We hope that the quality standards of coffee processing they learned at the PeaceBuilders Inclusive Development Training Center would be taught to the coffee farmers in PALMA towns.
