THE Department of Social Welfare and Development 7 has released P2.3 million to fund the livelihood ventures of members of 11 associations in Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City.
“We released the funds to 11 associations, which have a total of 230 participants,” said Rizalina Patindol, regional program coordinator of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), last Wednesday.
The P2.3 million was released to the 11 associations last Feb. 19.
During the 81st Cebu City Charter Day celebration last February, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña had said the DSWD 7 would distribute P10,000 each as livelihood grant to qualified individuals from urban poor families who had signed up for the sustainable livelihood program.
Patindol said the 11 associations were prioritized because they were the ones who had submitted complete documents.
Since Mambaling is always teeming with people, most of the members of the 11 associations chose to engage in selling general merchandise like rice, snacks and other basic commodities, she said.
Jimmy Crusio, government sector partnership officer, said the 50,000 to 60,000 individuals in Cebu City who had signified their intent to participate in the SLP did so by submitting project proposals.
“For the SLP, we have criteria. The first priority is Pantawid beneficiaries. Second are those households in the Listahanan. (If the applicant is neither of these), then we conduct a MEANS test to assess if the applicant is among the economically active poor,” said Crusio.
The SLP does not cater to the extremely poor because they would not qualify for entrepreneurship, he said.
Individuals who qualify for the program are organized into associations.
Pantawid is the DSWD’s program to give cash grants to the poorest of the poor on the condition that they invest in their children’s health and education, and avail themselves of maternal health services.
The Listahanan, or the National Household Targeting System, shows who and where the poor are, said 4Ps regional project coordinator Raquel Enriquez.
Not all those in the Listahanan become 4Ps beneficiaries because the budget is limited.
“So we have criteria on who can become members: The person must have been pregnant at the time of the enumeration, or have children zero to 18 years old, to become a 4Ps beneficiary,” said Enriquez.
The SLP is a capability building program where the P10,000 is given as a one-time grant rather than a loan.
“We teach the program participants to return the money. They are required to return the money to the association’s bank account which they themselves manage. They are required to return the money after two years as part of the savings of each individual participant,” Patindol said. “After this, they can again withdraw the money and use it for additional capital, if needed.”
The associations have their own set of officers. The associations may roll over the money in their bank account for use in other business ventures as a group, Patindol said.