ANP braces for 36th Negros Trade Fair

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – The Association of Negros Producers (ANP) is preparing for the 36th Negros Trade Fair 2022 in Manila after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

This was revealed by ANP president Arlene Infante during the launching and blessing of the Bugana Pavilion Thursday afternoon.

The Negros Trade Fair is the longest-running provincial trade fair in Manila that started in 1985.

With Infante on the occasion were Provincial Administrator Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, who represented Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, 303^rd Infantry Brigade commander; and Provincial Tourism Officer Cheryl Decena.

Infante said that when the pandemic happened and stopped everything, ANP lost its showroom and office, most of its staff, and even some of its members.

As a private association, ANP earns from its showroom, trainings, and short-term project management from external partners.

“For all its popularity, the Negros Trade Fair in Glorietta is not a revenue source of ANP but a revenue platform for the individual members. Somehow, we were surviving for three and a half decades,” Infante said.

Infante also thanked the provincial government for giving them the 1,000-square meter lot through a 25-year usufruct agreement in 2020.

She also thanked the provincial government for giving them P5 million in aid for the construction of the ANP building that houses their showroom and the Bugana market pavilion.

The Bugana market pavilion will display products of their agricultural sector members.

The agricultural sector is the latest addition to the ANP membership and started with the training of upland farmers in San Carlos City in good agricultural practices.

ANP acts as a consolidator and marketing partner in Bacolod.

“When everything stopped for us, we were able to accomplish, build, and forged more partnerships than ever,” she added.

Infante also said that the province engaged ANP to develop  communities in rebel-cleared areas through livelihood development, particularly product development, marketing, and raw materials propagation, which she said enabled them to see  “beyond the comforts of our craft and business world.”

“We came to realize that there are people, particularly women, some are indigenous women who are just waiting to be given a break, waiting to be lifted by the tide,” Infante said.

ANP was born during the sugar crisis in Negros to overcome the tragic fate of the mono-crop industry of the province.

A group of 15 Negrense women began what was then known as the House of Negros Foundation. Based in Manila, this paved the way for the birth of a non-stock, non-profit and non-political organization composed of professionals and entrepreneurs who had roots in Negros.

The foundation contributed extensively to alleviating the plight of more than 150,000 displaced workers from the sugar crisis.