Vindication “is such a sweet victory” according to DV Boer, a successful goat farm and agribusiness enabler based in Batangas, when the Securities and Exchange Commission recently lifted its advisory on their Paiwi program.
“This will exonerate DV Boer in the eyes of our partners, investors, believers, supporters and the general public because no less than the SEC, the government agency tasked to oversee big businesses, has already cleared us without any exceptions,” said Dex Villamin, the founder and president of the company established in 2014.
“Our Paiwi program was designed to genuinely help boost Philippine agriculture thru organized livestock raising,” he added in a statement.
In the order, the SEC stated that the case “is now deemed settled without any determination of guilt or fault on the part of DV Boer Farm International Corp.”
The commission previously warned against the firm’s “Paiwi” program in April 2019 through an advisory.
“Paiwi” is a widely-accepted Filipino backyard farming where a person who owns livestock hires a neighbor or close associate to grow and nurture the animal until such time that is it ready to be sold, milked, grown for its eggs or offsprings, or slaughtered for its meat.
DV Boer offered the unique Paiwi business program to help traditional poultry farms and livestock growers around its main farm in Balibago, Lian, Batangas to earn more and develop their farms into efficient, profit-oriented ventures.
The firm also educated them on how to run the business properly by providing new technology and best practices.
Villamin said his main advocacy is to uplift the lives of local farm owners and bring Filipino agribusiness to global standards.
“With this great development, we can now start the cleansing process of our once proud brand that would lead to the recovery of our business for all our employees, stakeholders and communities,” he added.
DV Boer, Villamin said, is hard put in coming up with the funds needed to keep the business going since the advisory took effect, and their bank accounts were closed due to the SEC advisory.
The banks did not accept new accounts in the name of the company, “so naturally, their operations were greatly affected with these developments,” he added.
This was aggravated when Taal Volcano erupted early January, as most of their partner farms located in Batangas could not forage freely due to heavy ash fall.
“As you can see, despite these major obstacles, we still plodded on and fought for our principles and advocacies. And our hardships have not gone for naught after this SEC ruling,” Villamin said.
“Now our main concern is not only to revive the business but to grow it and to continue to fulfill our obligations to our partners, people and communities. We promise our stakeholders that we will continue to enhance and speed up our operations and livestock production through application of new technologies,” he added.
Villamin also thanked all of their partners for continuing to believe in DV Boer despite these setbacks, and promised “to use these roadblocks as stepping stones to better the business.”