Tawi-Tawi capital opens first barter trade center

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The capital town of Tawi-Tawi now boasts a landmark barter trade center, which local officials inaugurated on Friday.

 

The center, located in a strategic area in Bongao, was constructed using municipal funds. Bongao Mayor Jasper Que said Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Mujiv Hataman helped his office put up the two-storey building.

 

Bongao is the capital town of Tawi-Tawi, the southernmost province of ARMM. Tawi-Tawi is a centuries-old hub for the barter trade. Local traders have ties with counterparts in nearby Sabah in Malaysia and in other markets in Malaysia and Indonesia.

 

Que said he is thankful to the Hataman administration for helping the Bongao municipal government establish a barter trade center, where traders engaged in various businesses can gather.

 

The two-storey building has more than 40 stalls for grocery and dry merchandise dealers and 11 traditional coffee shops and small eateries. Que said the stalls in the trading center have all been awarded to applicants with valid business licenses.

 

The new Bongao barter trade center is the first in Tawi-Tawi.