Initiated by the Office of City Mayor Al David T. Uy, facilitated by the External Affairs in-charge Mrs. Emmalyn Moriones, in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare Development represented by the Project Development Office II, Mr. Jerryloi B. Dinampo, and with the cooperation of the City Social Welfare and Development headed by OIC-CSWD Department head Mr. Edward Sisor, the cash release of the Livelihood Assistance Grant for Livelihood Recovery occurred on November 19, 2021 at the Freedom Park, Kan'anan sa Park.
Cash assistance amounting to 15,000 was given to each of the 120 beneficiaries from the three districts; Babak, Samal, and Kaputian. Based on the guidelines of the program, DSWD assessed, evaluated, and validated the grantees that were from the list forwarded by the City Mayor's Office and CSWD. This is to ensure the eligibility of the beneficiaries.
The public market vendors included are those whose businesses were greatly disadvantaged by the pandemic. One of the recipients of the cash assistance from the Babak district, Ms. Maria Leonora Saycon Tagbo, stated that during the pandemic, she only gained half of the income she used to profit. "Katunga sa akong income ang nawala pero akong mga expenses and everything same lang japun," she said. Ms. Marezel Quismundo Taporoc, also a beneficiary from the Samal district, expressed the same sentiment and difficulty encountered during the pandemic, especially that strict safety protocols in response to the virus were enforced, "Nihinay ang negosyo. Wala nay makasulod sa palengke nga customer tungod kay need pa i-scan ang Qrcode. Sa gusto magdali nga customer dili na mosulod.", she said. The same predicament was expressed by another beneficiary, Ms.Roselyn Caguyong Lazarte from the Kaputian district, "Dako Jud kaayong epekto sa amoa during COVID unlike sa sauna nga wala pa. Daghan kaayog kinahanglan diskartehan para Lang Jud mabuhi sama sa pag palit sud.an pero at the end of the day malipay lang jud ug pasalamat sa Ginoo."she said.
Propelled and concerned of these circumstances dealt by the public market vendors, the local government under the leadership of City Mayor Hon. Al David T. Uy, cooperated with the CSWD and reached out to the DSWD to help and assist financially the affected public market entrepreneurs.
The interviewed individuals expressed their great gratitude to the local government and DSWD for the Livelihood Recovery Program which is a great help for them to continue their source of income and recover from their loss during the pandemic. "Dako kaayog tabang especially sa pag dugang capital sa negosyo na ginagmay. Dako kaayu ko pasalamat ani nga programa. Sa DSWD nga sila jud naningkamot usab para sa katawhan. Appreciated kaayo jud." Ms. Roselyn said. Ms. Marezel also shared the same expression. " Mapasalamaton ko nga nahimo ming beneficiary sa maong livelihood program tungod kay makapadayon mi sa among negosyo, naay additional capital.", she said.