Around 500 farmer-beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Project Lawa at Binhi received P9,600 each in salary during the June 19 payout held at the San Carlos City Auditorium.
The beneficiaries are members of 10 farmers’ associations across the city, who were compensated for their 20-day work, from April 28 to May 22. Each received P9,600 for constructing a 500-square-meter small farm reservoir (SFR) with a depth ranging from 1.2 to two meters in their respective areas.
The associations include the Napaturan Balambang Farmers Association, Cabagtasan Igmamatay Farmers Irrigators Association, Association of AMKGB-Barangay Codcod, Natural Park Farmers Association, Cansay-an SWISA Farmers Association, Manggawa Farmers Association, Initihan River Irrigators Association, Anahaw Lagha Lupao Habuyo Farmers Association, Palampas ISF Farmers Association, Bagonbon Savings Workers Farmers Association.
The SFRs will serve as water storage systems to support their vegetable gardens, the city said in a press release.
To augment livelihood opportunities, each association also received 4,000 tilapia fingerlings for their aquaculture reservoirs; as well as vegetable seeds, through the coordination of the City Agriculture Office and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA), led by Livelihood Assessment Development Strengthening Program in-charge Marlon Maglayon and OPA representative Hermie Jones Basilio.
Negros Occidental 1st District Board Member Rommel Debulgado, who is an incoming councilor of San Carlos, represented Mayor Renato Gustilo during the activity, and expressed his appreciation to the project’s role in promoting food security, environmental protection, and improved water sources.
He encouraged farmer-groups to sustain their initiatives and prioritize environmental care so that benefits could continue to the next generation.
Before the salary distribution, a covenant of commitment to the project was also signed by association presidents, Debulgado, DSWD Region VI project development officer III David Patilla Jr., OPA officer-in-charge Dina Genzola, and Provincial Environment Management Office community development assistant 1 Meralet Padilla-Dapdap.
City Social Welfare and Development Office OIC Edena Dagondon and her staff facilitated the salary distribution.
The DSWD Negros Island Region, meanwhile, distributed financial assistance to beneficiaries of the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) June 18 at Brgy. 4 covered court.
Around 392 beneficiaries, including members of farmers’ and fisherfolk associations from the 18 barangays of San Carlos, received P15,000 each as seed capital for their chosen livelihood.
The DSWD allocated P5,880,000 for the payout through the Office of Congressman Gerardo Valmayor Jr. of the 1st District of Negros Occidental, and was facilitated by DSWD-NIR, in partnership with the CSWDO and the CAO.
The SLP aims to improve the socio-economic status of indigent and marginalized Filipino households by providing them with financial capital and relevant training to support income-generating activities.
Project development officer II Raymond Gil Cervantes of DSWD-NIR said that 82 associations availed of the program, with each group receiving P60,000, equivalent to the share of four registered members, as additional capital for their respective businesses.
Also present at the event were PDO II Ramil Raquit of DSWD-NIR SLP and Jessie Vierneza, chief of staff of Valmayor, the city said. ||
