Fifty (50) PantawidPamilya program beneficiaries from the 41 barangays of San Juan town in La Union received food carts from the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 1 during their graduation on Skills Training on Business Management leading to Food Cart Business on 11 August 2017. This is in partnership with Leyum Enterprise which served as training providers.

Each participant was given a budget allocation of Php20,000.00 from Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) fund which covered the provision of food carts, starter kits, Php1,000.00 worth of siomai and siopao products, and Php2,000 for the processing of required business permits. The Local Government Unit of San Juan, through Mayor Arturo Valdriz, provided the training venue, meal and transportation allowances of the beneficiaries, and gave additional Php50,000.00 capital to the new businessmen.

Real, 42, said that the grant given to her family would be of great help in sending her three children to school. “Ti maganansyak to ket pangalaan iti allowance da nga agbasa ken igatang iti school projects da (The income I’ll be getting will be utilized for my children’s school allowance and projects),” she said. Evelyn is a part-time laundry woman while her husband is a part-time carpenter. (by: Janine Joy B. Altero, Social Marketing Officer, Sustainable Livelihood Program)