DSWD eyes financial aid for VCD vendors

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has announced it would be extending financial assistance to vendors whose wares have been confiscated as a result of a government crackdown on pirated compact discs (CDs) and video compact discs (VCDs)

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Juliano-Soliman said the financial assistance will come in the form of loans to help the vendors get back on their feet.

Soliman said the DSWD will provide loans of P10,000 to P20,000 without interest, which can be used as capital to buy legitimate merchandise.

She pointed out that vendors would be obliged to locate inside public markets and not to return to sidewalks in peddling their goods.

The Videogram Regulatory Board (VRB) has been cracking down on pirated CDs and VCDs being sold by vendors in shopping centers and sidewalks all over Metro Manila. The Metro Manila Development Authority is also implementing a drive to clear all city sidewalks of illegal vendors.

Soliman said the government recognizes the plight of the vendors whose wares have been confiscated by the VRB and the MMDA. Agencies are looking into ways to help the vendors find fresh capital and earn a living selling legitimate products.

The DSWD chief, however, said their financial assistance program is still in the planning stage. – Rainier Allan Ronda