Oriental Mindoro - A significant development for the calamansi (Philippine lime) industry in Oriental Mindoro was marked with the inauguration of a new processing facility aimed at establishing the province as a leading producer in the country.
According to Philippines News Agency, the new facility located in Barangay Pakyas, Victoria town, will be the operations center for the Pakyas Association of Rural Improvement Club's (Paric) calamansi processors. The building was officially opened on Thursday with funding from the Korea International Cooperation Agency and the Global Green Growth Institute, supported by the Climate Change Commission, Department of Trade and Industry, Philippine Business for Social Progress, and the provincial government. The project received a PHP10 million grant from the funding agencies.
Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Sang-hwa attended the inauguration ceremony, underlining the strong collaborative ties between South Korea and Oriental Mindoro. Governor Humerlito Dolor expressed gratitude for the continued support from the South Korean government for developmental projects in the province. "We will continue to pursue these projects with the solid support of our close friend, the Korean government," Governor Dolor stated.
Governor Dolor has previously voiced his ambition to transform Oriental Mindoro into the country's "Calamansi King," a hub for manufacturing high-value products derived from Philippine lime. Paric, the cooperative based in the new facility, specializes in producing fruit juice concentrates from calamansi, which are key to this vision.