“The pandemic gave us a hard time. Our very little income from our vegetable farm was depleted, but the Php 10,000 assistance from Sustainable Livelihood program (SLP) has given us the chance to recover from our losses,” Raymunda Basalan says in her native language.

The 84-year-old farmer and vegetable vendor in the local market in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental, received her grant in December 2020 and used it to buy additional products for her store and crops for her farm.

Raymunda appreciated the program because it helped her recover from the losses she suffered during the pandemic. Today, her farm is doing well, and her store is earning 1,000–1,500 every market day. With her perseverance, she generated savings. Raymunda upgraded to cattle fattening and bought cattle worth Php 5,000.

“Ang 10,000 nga nadawat nako maoy akong gipuno sa akong sari-sari store. Ang assistance mao kini ang instrumento tabang sa Ginoo aron kami dili magutman og mapadayon ang among panginabuhi (The 10,000 I received was what I used to buy goods for the sari-sari store. It is the Lord’s way of helping us to spare us from getting hungry so we can continue our livelihood),” shares Sarah, a LAG beneficiary from Tagbilaran, Bohol.

The 44-year-old former OFW, Sarah S. Gutierrez, owns a sari-sari store in her town. During the pandemic, her capital was consumed by her family due to the community lockdown since it was their only means of providing for their family. The assistance saved the family’s livelihood. In less than a year, she was able to save and purchase a multi-cab for business and family use.

Sarah expressed that the program sees the beneficiaries’ needs and that the close monitoring of the beneficiaries has helped them monitor and evaluate if they’re doing well in their enterprise.

“Dako kaayo ning tabang kanamo, sa among gagmay nga panginabuhi (This is a huge help to us, in our small businesses. This greatly helps our small business),” Lourdes timidly smiled. The beneficiaries were grateful for the assistance they received and to the government for providing undying support to them in times of need.

The SLP has assigned workers to regularly visit the beneficiaries and monitor the implementation of the Livelihood Assistance Grant (LAG) and provide the technical assistance needed for their livelihoods.

During the monitoring, the regional program coordinator, Rizalina Patindol, encourages the beneficiaries to give importance to the assistance provided by the government, for not all can avail of it.

“Kinahanglan mag keep mo og notebook o logbook sa inyong halin, aron dali makita ang earnings or losses ninyo (You need to keep a notebook or logbook to record revenues to track your profit or losses),” Patindol added.

The SLP Region 7 has disbursed a total of 595 million pesos for the LAG. The LAG started in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. In two years, the program catered to 57,042 families; 11,119 in Bohol; 31,241 in Cebu; 12,612 in Negros Oriental; and 2,070 in Siquijor. ###

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