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President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, together with other national and local government officials, lead the distribution of cash assistance to the families affected by the oil spill during the President’s visit to Pola, Oriental Mindoro on Saturday, April 15.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, together with other national and local government officials, lead the distribution of cash assistance to the families affected by the oil spill during the President’s visit to Pola, Oriental Mindoro on Saturday, April 15.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., assisted by Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian, led the distribution of various government assistance to affected residents of the oil spill in Pola, Oriental Mindoro on Saturday, April 15.

Nearly 1,000 families who were affected by the fishing ban in the area received financial aid from the DSWD worth Php 20,054 per household to help them cope with the effects of the oil spill on their livelihood.

The cash assistance is composed of the Emergency Cash Transfers (ECT) and food and cash assistance/other support services under the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS).

Aside from the DSWD, other government agencies also extended help to the affected fisherfolks that include livelihood grants worth PhP10.3 million to 391 beneficiaries under the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP) and PhP102 million worth of financial assistance to beneficiaries under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) program.

Livelihood kits worth PhP10,000 were also distributed per beneficiary under the Pangkabuhayan sa Pagbangon at Ginhawa (PPG) Program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and loan approval for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) worth PhP5.3 million from Small Business Corporation (SBCorp).

In his message, President Marcos assured that the government is doing its best to rapidly bring back the livelihood of the affected fisherfolks and provided a direction to the concerned agencies to ensure that long-term plans are being implemented to help the affected population.

“Asahan po ninyo na ang national government, nandito po kaming lahat upang alalayan ang sitwasyon ninyo rito. At asahan ninyong hindi titigil iyan hangga’t kayo ay nakabangon na_” (We assure you that the national government is monitoring your situation and will continue to assist you until you are able to recover from the effects of the oil spill), Pres. Marcos said.

Update on provision of assistance to oil spill-affected localities

The DSWD has provided more than Php 223 million worth of humanitarian assistance to the affected families in Batangas, Oriental Mindoro, Antique and Palawan since the oil spill incident in February. The DSWD assistance include food and non-food items (FNIs) as well as cash aid.

The DSWD reported to the President that more than 120,500 family food packs (FFPs) had been distributed to the affected localities.

In addition, the DSWD extended cash assistance to some 15,945 beneficiaries in the provinces of Oriental Mindoro, Palawan and Antique under its AICS program. In Caluya, Antique, some 4,931 affected residents also received financial aid under the ECT program.

The DSWD continues to implement the Cash-For-Work program to provide temporary livelihood for the affected residents in Batangas, Oriental Mindoro and Antique. To date, more than Php 60 million has been disbursed to some 16,194 individuals engaged by the programs.

The DSWD vowed to assist the families while they continue to be hampered by the effects of the oil spill to ensure that their immediate needs are addressed in line with the directive of President Marcos. #