The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC), together with Vitarich Corporation- a leading feeds manufacturer in the country, conducted a Hog Raising Seminar on May 10, 2013 in Cagayan de Oro City, for the ODW beneficiaries of the ECC enrolled under the KaGabay (Katulong at Gabay sa Manggagawang may Kapansanan) Program and other participants from Region 10. There were eight ECC-ODWs who attended the livelihood seminar.

The seminar was intended to provide information on the hog-raising business and to encourage participants to engage in this entrepreneurial activity, as a principal or additional source of income for economic independence, particularly the ODWs who were displaced from their former employment.

According to studies, hog-raising in the Philippines has been a common business for Filipinos throughout the decades. Its popularity is evidently seen among backyards of rural families. In fact, an average Filipino family raises a small number of hogs, which produces more than those from commercial piggeries. The challenge, however, faced by small scale hog raisers is on how to maximize profitability on this endeavor.

Vitarich committed to empower the participants with recent knowledge and innovations in the agri-business and assistance in making their hog-raising business successful and profitable.

The ECC, on the other hand, undertook to provide starter kits- composed of piglets and feeds, to its ODW beneficiaries in Region 10.