Ormoc biz chamber recognizes 13 firms

ORMOC CITY, Philippines – Thirteen big and small businesses operating in this city were cited by the Ormoc Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (OCCCI), in cooperation with the city government during its general assembly and election of new board of trustees Thursday evening at the City Hall multi-purpose hall.

Awarded as “big” businesses with capitalization of more than P15 million were R8 Distribution and Logistics for retail industry, Energy Development Corp. for industrial sector, and Security Bank for bank and financial sector.

Meanwhile, cited as awardees in the “homegrown large business” category were the Ormoc AOG Inc. (retail industry), Mayong’s Bakeshop & Snackhouse (manufacturing), and Bank of Ormoc, Inc. (bank and finance).

Cited as “homegrown small businesses” with capitalization of P3 million were Servwell chain of drugstores for retail, JALDS Trucking & Hauling Services (services industry), Armea Enterprises (manufacturing), Ikea Cakes and Snacks (manufacturing) and Agencia Ormocana (finance).

Eric Tolo of the Daykka chain of bakeshops and eateries was named “Young Enterpreneur of the Year”, while Violeta M. Baltonado was hailed “Woman Enterpreneur of the Year.”

The awards, the 4th round of annual recognitions given to the business sector since 2010, is a departure of the past three which were solely based on how much business taxes the entities paid.

Before, it was the city’s contractors who lorded the awards because of the taxes withheld on the city payments on their contracts.

Emil Tingson, city licensing officer, said that in the past, the criteria were limited to how much taxes these businesses paid to the LGU, hence it was called “Business Taxpayer of the Year” awards.

This year, however, in joint collaboration with the Ormoc Chamber, businesses were nominated based on their track record of business growth, innovativeness, community involvement and work culture.

Tingson added that with the new criteria, choosing the winners was tricky as some were reluctant to submit their business profiles, despite being nominated by third parties. —/JMD (FREEMAN)