Sari sari Store Training and Access to Resources (STAR PROGRAM)

The STAR program is a partnership between COKE - TESDA - FICCO (financing institutions) and Women Sari sari Store Owners. The objective of the program is to empower women who are small store owners, and other entrepreneurial women. For the STAR project in Mindanao the aim is to empower 50,000 women by 2020. conversely this is 10,000 women per year for the next 5 years and this challenge taken by the CEO of FICCO Mr Edgardo Micayabas during the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement at Marco Polo Hotel in Davao. 






The empowerment involves building and equipping of the women participants with store management, accounting and recording to keep track of operation, and exchange of ideas and interactions with other women entrepreneur. These equipping stage shall be done by the TESDA.

The First Community Cooperative (FICCO) after the women graduate from the TESDA will provide the financing which is the access to resources stage of the program. these women will be provided by low interest loans from FICCO and shall be accepted members of FICCO once they undergo Pre-membership semnar which is also part of the equipping stage of the women.

In Tagum the women association partner is the Tagum City Council of Womens Inc (TCCWI) headed by their President Mrs Alma Uy, who were also present during the signing of the MOA.