A CELEBRATION of rebuilt lives and sustainable livelihood for the evacuees of the Marawi Siege was commemorated in the second Kawiyagan, Thursday, Marawi City Hall Grounds.
In the event, government groups and non-government organizations (NGOs) held a ceremonial turnover of livelihood support and grants to evacuees from different evacuation sites in Marawi City.
Some of the livelihood supports were seeds, fuels for the tractors, fishing and agricultural supplies, and sewing machines.
The event started last month by Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) to “converge” the list of beneficiaries among government agencies, local government units, and humanitarian groups to avoid duplication of distribution of grants among beneficiaries.
TFBM Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario also said in his speech that the event aims to make the distribution of support to the evacuees and all evacuation sites systematic and equal.
The government agencies that participated were the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm), Department of Agriculture (DA), Philippine Information Agency (PIA), and TESDA.
Humanitarian groups that were with their beneficiaries were Community and Family Services International (CFSI), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, World Food Program (WFP), People’s Disaster Risk Reduction Network (PDRRN), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), and Maradeka.
Sondo Monara, 41, an evacuee in Sarimanok Site 2, has been staying in her evacuation center for three months now.
Before the siege, they used to have a retail store in Lilod Bubong Madayan, part of the most affected area of the siege.
Upon receiving her ready-to-wear (RTW) livelihood support from CFSI, Sonda said that she was happy to finally be able to provide for her family.
Another evacuee, Rakim Magulama, 21, father of three children, received an ice cream cart from CFSI and had an income of about P2,000 during the event from selling ice cream.
He said that when the siege erupted, his family was only able to bring one pair of clothing from their former home in Moncado Kadilingan and walked from Marawi all the way to Balo-i for safety.
PDRRN, in the event, showcased their iAfford Card which is being distributed to 15,000 evacuees.
Also called e-Puyot or Financial Inclusion for the Recovery of Marawi (FIRM), the card was given for them to have a bank account to save their money and perform cashless purchases while teaching them how to properly store their money responsibly.
The NGO provided basic financial literacy orientations to their beneficiaries before distributing the cards.
A P2,000 allowance was also given to them. After the provision, the evacuees are expected to store their money in their cards, said Ricky Senec, project team leader of PDRRN.
Kawiyagan will be held every 27th day of the month, as discussed in a meeting for the event by all the agencies and will continue “until needed,” Sec. Del Rosario said.
“This is in line with President Duterte’s order to help Marawi City,” Sec. Del Rosario said.
The October Kawiyagan will be hosted by DA.
“Kawiyagan” means “livelihood” in the Meranaw language. Riz P. Sunio