BAYUGAN CITY — A business week is often a calendar formality, a few days of talks and booths tucked between semesters. At the Caraga School of Business, the third edition of Patigayon has been built to function as something closer to a dry run for the real thing. On October 29, 2026, the school opened its campus in Poblacion to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Agusan del Sur for a partnership that placed students in direct contact with the agency that will eventually regulate, support, and sometimes fund the enterprises they hope to build.
A Business Week That Operates on Real Terms
The event's name carries weight in the local language. "Patigayon" refers to enterprise or livelihood, and the choice signals that the week is not confined to academic exercises. The school's administrator, Dr. Gilbert B. Zerrudo, framed the program around practical business experience, positioning the partnership with DTI as a bridge between the classroom and the market. That framing matters for students enrolled in entrepreneurship and related programs, who often graduate with theoretical models but limited exposure to the compliance requirements, financing structures, and pricing pressures that define actual commerce.
What DTI Brings to a Campus
The DTI's presence at a school event is not ceremonial. The agency operates the Negosyo Center network, runs youth entrepreneurship bootcamps, and administers programs that extend from business registration assistance to shared service facilities. For students in Bayugan City, the Patigayon platform gives those services a face and a location. A student who has spent a semester drafting a business plan can walk up to a DTI officer and ask what happens next: how to register, what licenses apply, where to find support for equipment or product development. That conversation is often the difference between a plan that stays on paper and one that reaches the market.
Building an Entrepreneurial Culture Beyond the Campus
The partnership also reflects a broader pattern in Agusan del Sur, where government agencies have been steadily investing in youth entrepreneurship. DTI Agusan del Sur has conducted bootcamps, supported selling fairs, and worked with schools to embed enterprise skills into the student experience. Patigayon 2026 is one node in that network, a recurring event that keeps the conversation alive from year to year. For a province whose economy relies heavily on micro and small enterprises, that continuity matters. The students in the room will eventually become the proprietors, employers, and taxpayers who sustain the local business landscape.
