A total of ₱1.5M seed capital fund was awarded to 150 Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries in the Cities of Laoag and Batac, Ilocos Norte through the Bottom-Up-Budgeting-Sustainable Livelihood Program (BUB-SLP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
One hundred Pantawid beneficiaries were identified in Batac City, Ilocos Norte to receive ₱10,000.00 each from the DSWD BUB-SLP grant of ₱600,00.00 and the Batac City Local Government Unit (LGU) counterpart contribution amounting to ₱400,000.00.
Batac City Mayor Jeffrey Nalupta, together with Vice-Mayor Ronald Allan Nalupta, City Social Welfare and Development Officer Lilibeth Maligsay, and Batac City Local Poverty Reduction Action Team (LPRAT) members, officially accepted the DSWD BUB-SLP grant from DSWD Field Office I Director Marcelo Nicomedes J. Castillo.
In Laoag City, ₱500,000.00 worth of allocation grant to DSWD BUB-SLP beneficiaries was awarded. Fifty beneficiaries received ₱10,000.00 each from the program (Tungo sa Kaunlaran SKA-Brgy. Calayab received ₱80,000.00, Kaagaya sa Pag-unlad SKA-Brgy. Araniw received ₱80,000.00, Angat sa Lahat SKA-Brgy. Mangato received ₱140,000.00, Lucky Ten SKA-Brgy. Vira received ₱100,000.00, and Key to Success SKA-Brgy. Zamboanga received ₱100,000.00). As part of Laoag City’s counterpart contribution, ₱100,000.00 will be awarded to additional 10 BUB-SLP beneficiaries this coming October.
The awarding in Laoag City was attended by Dir. Castillo, DSWD City Links, BUB-SLP staff, and the supportive LGU officials and staff of Laoag City headed by Mayor Chevylle Fariñas together with her Council, City Social Welfare and Development Officer Aurora Corpuz, Laoag City Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and Laoag’s Local Poverty Reduction Action Team (LPRAT).
DSWD’s BUB-SLP program aims to provide appropriate income-generating opportunities through microenterprise or employment to help improve the level of well-being of the poor and vulnerable families, capacitating them through Bottom-Up-Budgeting, Planning, and Implementation of their identified livelihood projects.
Further, the DSWD partners with the LGUs in the implementation of the said Program to complement the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) of the government on poverty reduction. (by: Jomara S. Chan, Kalahi-CIDSS Social Marketing Officer)