It was another busy day for Barangay Captain Ermelando Anonat or Ying to his constituents, as he and other barangay officials worked double time to complete the implementation of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).
Barangay Sta. Rita in Olongapo City is one of the biggest barangays in Central Luzon. It is home to some 16,000 families based on the barangay’s recent count. With the number of families in their barangay, Ying said that the implementation of SAP, was by far, one of the most challenging programs that they have implemented.
SAP is the provision of emergency subsidy amounting to P5,000 to P8,000, based on the regional minimum wage rate, to low income families assessed to be most affected by the nationwide community quarantine to abate the spread of COVID-19. It aims to mitigate the
effects of economic shocks brought about by the disruption of livelihood of poor families.
“Sa aming mga Kapitan ibinigay yung repsonsibilidad sa pagpili ng mg benepisyaryo para sa SAP. Kami din ang gagawa ng sistema para tignan kung sino yung mga uunahin. Mahirap ito sa amin lalo na at wala naman ako at ang konseho na background pagdating sa social welfare” (They gave us the responsibility to choose the beneficiaries for SAP. We were in-charge of creating a system to identify who should get it first. This is hard for us especially that I nor the barangay council has background when it comes to social welfare), Ying shared.
Given the very limited time, Ying thought of involving the young professionals in their community with the help of her daughter, Christine Pia Oviedo. Using the barangay Facebook Page, Christine posted an announcement calling for young volunteers.
Luckily, they were able to get 61 volunteers who were mostly teachers. These barangay volunteers were given an orientation with the assistance from the City Social Welfare Office, discussing the over-all objective of the SAP and how to identify potential beneficiaries.
The organized young professional volunteers led the house to house interviews. They were also responsible for assessing and recommending the list of potential beneficiaries based on the criteria.
“Yung na-organize na young professionals ang nagpunta sa mga bahay-bahay para mag interview. Para maiwasan ang pagdududa, hindi ka pwedeng ma-assign sa purok mo, dapat sa ibang purok ka. After namin mainterview, gagawa kami ng potential list, yun ang sinasubmit namin sa Konseho. Sila ang mafinalize ng list base sa sinubmit namin. (The organized young professionals went from house to house to interview. To avoid doubts, a volunteer cannot be assigned to his or her own purok but to another area. After we had our interview, we created a potential list, which is what we submitted to the Council. The Council finalized the list based on what has been submitted), Christine said.
In just seven days, Barangay Sta. Rita was able to submit the complete list of beneficiaries for SAP. According to Ying, it would not be possible for them to complete it in seven days without the help of the volunteers.
As for Christine, helping their community was both challenging and fulfilling.
“We were threatened. Some even questioned the list that we submitted. While it hurts, it can never take away the joy and I will always be thankful for this once in a lifetime opportunity. It opened my eyes to the real essence of public service and gave more value to my self-worth,”
Christine expressed. ###
