DSWD distributes P10 million to Cebu residents for livelihood

CEBU, Philippines — A total of P10 million was disbursed to 666 beneficiaries in Cebu yesterday, May 30, 2024, from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-7’s Sustainable Livelihood payout.

Former DSWD secretary and ACT-CIS Party-list Representative Erwin Tulfo and Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes led the distribution of at least P15,000 to each beneficiary, which serves as a seed capital of their chosen livelihood.

Tulfo, deputy majority leader at the House of Representatives, told the beneficiaries to use the money to finance and grow a livelihood and not use it for gambling.

“Para po yan sa kabuhayan ninyo, gamiton ninyo mabuti yan, hindi po sa tong-its,” Tulfo told the selected beneficiaries coming from different town and cities of Cebu Province, adding that more Cebuanos will be given the same benefit in the coming days.

The 666 beneficiaries came from the cities of Naga (30), Carcar City (60), Toledo City (60), Mandaue City (50), and Lapu-Lapu (50).

For the towns, recipients were from Samboan (56), Balamban (60), Pinamungajan (30), Daanbantayan (60), Medellin (60), San Remigio (60), Liloan (30), and Carmen (30).

The payout was done at the barangay Subangdaku Multi-purpose gym in Mandaue City with some city and barangay officials, including ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Edvic Yap, DSWD Assistant Secretary for Specialized programs Florentino Lovola and other officials from DSWD-7 headed by regional director Shalaine Marie Lucero.

Lovola explained to the beneficiaries that this financial assistance is not a dole-out but capital for their livelihood and that after five years, if their livelihood would do well, DSWD will provide an additional capital of P100,000 to P250,000 per beneficiary.

Cebu Sixth District Provincial Board Member Glenn Soco, on behalf of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, expressed his gratitude to Tulfo for the financial aid for the Cebuanos initiated by his office.

The SLP has disbursed P393,186,400 seed capital funds to the 24,427 program participants in the entire region in the 2023 implementation.

SLP aims to improve the socio-economic status of indigent and marginalized Filipino households by providing them with financial capital and skills training to engage in livelihood, among others.

Earlier, DSWD, through its SLP, signed a memorandum of agreement with its partner agencies.

The partner agencies will aid in the implementation of the SLP by helping the program participants strengthen their skills, competencies, abilities, and resources through skills training and technical assistance to improve the participants' socio-economic status. — ATO (CEBU NEWS)