Cordillera Administrative Region– The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) here has released Php 1,694,536.90 worth of livelihood assistance to the bereaved families of the Cordilleran Special Action Force (SAF) members who were part of the Mamasapano incident on January 2015.
Thirteen (13) families have received the assistance through the Sustainable Livelihood program (SLP) of the DSWD. “Aside from the previous financial assistance and psychosocial interventions we have provided earlier this year, the livelihood assistance is still part of the interventions that we are giving to the families of our SAF heroes since we would want to help them in recovering for the loss that they have experienced”, DSWD-CAR OIC- Regional Director Janet P. Armas said.
Seventeen (17) family members, including some parents of the slain SAF, received the first tranche of the livelihood assistance corresponding to 70% of the proposed project cost. The remaining 30% of the proposed funding assistance will be provided upon the full utilization of the final tranche.
The recipients are expected to fully utilize the first tranche before the release of the remaining assistance. SLP project development officers will be monitoring and assisting the families in doing such. The families have also undergone the Basic Business Management Training to be equipped with the skills and knowledge in managing their micro-enterprise project.
“Itinuro sa amin kung paano mag-karoon ng disiplina sa pag-nenegosyo at kung paano namin papaikutin ang puhunan namin. Malaking bagay ang training na binigay nila dahil first time naming mag-handle ng business”, John Rey Kodiamat shared.
John Rey is the brother of Police Officer 1 Angel Kodiamat who received the assistance in behalf of the Kodiamat family. “Malaking tulong to [livelihood assistance] sa pamilya lalo na sunod-sunod yung pagsubok sa pamilya namin dahil na-stroke ang aming tatay at na-operahan naman ang kapatid kong babae”, John Rey added. The Kodiamat family received Php 68,635.00 for their proposed sari-sari store business. “Makakadagdag ito sa kita ng pamilya mula sa piggery”, John Rey said.
Meanwhile, Felicitas Nacino, mother of Police Officer Nicky Nacino, received Php 210,000.00 for the proposed Laundry and Photocopying Services business. “Magiging malaking tulong ito sa amin lalo na’t in demand ang ganitong business ngayon. Matagal na naming gusto ito kaya lang wala kaming pang puhunan dahil inuuna ni Nicky na pag-aralin ang mga kapatid niya. Noon kasi, nag-give way yung mga kapatid niya para maunang makapag-tapos si Nicky. Kaya naman noong nakapasok na sa trabaho si Nicky, siya na ang nag-paaral sa mga kapatid niya. Napag-tapos nya ang kapatid nyang si Geraldine na pulis na rin ngayon. At ang business na ito, makakatulong sa pag-aaral ni Ricky boy kahit wala na si Nicky”, Felicitas shared in vernacular.
The livelihood assistance provided to the families followed the Community-Driven Enterprise Development (CDED) approach of the SLP. Under the said approach the families underwent various capacity building and skills enhancement activities. They were also assisted by project development officers in the preparation of their project/business proposals. These are some of the strategies of the said program to help the Sustainable Livelihood Program participants succeed in their microenterprise projects. # DSWD-CAR, SOCIAL MARKETING UNIT, Nerizza Faye G. Villanueva
