A total of 30 homegrown micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and farmer-entrepreneurs generated almost PHP300,000 in cash during a one-day selling event at the Kartilya ng Katipunan beside the Manila City Hall on Feb. 21, 2025.

“(Despite) limited stocks brought by our partner-MSMEs and farmers during the one-day selling event, their sales report hit almost PHP300,000,” Elma Gabriel, head of the Ilocos Norte MSME Office, said in an interview late Monday afternoon.

To help more Ilocos Norte MSMEs and farmers expand their market reach outside the province, the Ilocos Norte government led by Governor Matthew Joseph Manotoc and the City of Manila represented by Mayor Honey Lacuna signed a producer-to-consumer (P2C) agreement on Feb. 21 to make authentic Ilocos Norte products more accessible to consumers in the Philippine capital at cheaper prices or without the markup of third-party traders.

“This is a big help for us because of the significant increase in our sales when we bring our products to the metro and sell it directly to consumers,” Agnes Asuncion, a farmer-producer of fruits and vegetables in Barangay Pias in Currimao town, said in an interview on Tuesday.

Aside from selling her fresh farm produce that include bananas and dragon fruits, the former overseas Filipino worker turned farmer-entrepreneur is also processing her products into fruit wines, vinegar, and soap and selling them.

The Manila P2C market is now the third of its kind that the provincial government of Ilocos Norte has joined since the project was launched before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Before that, similar agreements have also been entered into with the Quezon City and San Juan City governments.

With the positive turnout in Manila, Gabriel said they would bring in more local producers that offer a wide array of quality products to the capital, including traditional handwoven products and authentic Ilocano delicacies such as bagnet, longganisa, miki noodles, Ilocos empanada, and chichacorn, among others.

The P2C program will be available every month and is expected to generate an average monthly sales of more than PHP1 million.

In her speech during the launching of the P2C program in Manila, Lacuna said the initiative not only promotes economic growth for Ilocano farmers and entrepreneurs but also provides Manileños access to high-quality regional products.

She said this collaboration aligns with both local governments efforts to support small businesses and sustainable trade practices.