The Lower Bangon Marawi Consumer Cooperative (Marawi City) is a social enterprise that aims to provide work and income source for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) through the production of oil-free palapa.
The cooperative was organised by IDPs at the height of the Marawi siege to address the lack of income of their fellow IDPs in a bid to prevent more individuals from joining extremist groups. The team understands that when IDPs do not have income, they are more prone to joining extremist groups in the hope that they will be compensated and will then have the capacity to feed their families. The SE hopes to minimise the occurrence of this through their operations.
The cooperative has 25 members and has been engaged in producing and marketing a no-oil version of palapa. Their product is enjoying a steady demand in the market in Lanao and nearby cities like Iligan, and can be sourced from selected stores such as the Gaisano Mall, Citi Mall and SM Uptown CDO.