DSWD7 distributes P13M to 4Ps beneficiaries in Mabinay
by Jennifer Catan-Tilos
DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, Oct 11 (PIA) More than P13 million has been distributed to some 4,462 small scale farmers and fisher folks of Mabinay, Negros Oriental recently for their “cash for work, cash for training” under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSW) Rice Subsidy Program.
The 4Ps beneficiaries received P2,937 each from their seven days of work and four days of training with P267 per day.
“This time instead of seeing mothers in the market place bargaining on a kilo of fish or a bundle of kangkong, one can see men bargaining on the price of fresh and salted fish, buying vegetables, a sack of rice and most of all a little or two delicacy for waiting children,” said DSWD7 Information Officer II, Aileen Lariba.
The cash received by farmers and fisher folks have been used for their basic needs such as food for their families.
Lariba said, “Contrary to what we hear, that when men have cash and goes out in groups, they end up drunk or broke due to betting on cockpits, but the fathers of Mabinay put this belief to mere hearsay.”
Reneboy Kadusale, 35, a father of three from Barangay Pandanon said “Na-anad raba akong mga anak nga lami mi ug sud-an sama sa preskong isda or baboy kung na-a miy madawat sa gobyerno sama sa Pantawid Pamilya diin mupalit gyud dayon ilang mama ug gatas ug pan tam-is. Ug akong asawa maghuwat pud to nga magdala ko ug bugas. Maghuwat pud to sila nako.” (My children are now use to expecting something good for dinner such as fresh fish or pork whenever we receive something from the government such as during Pantawid Pamilya pay-outs wherein their mother always buys them milk and sweet bread as something nice. My wife now is also expecting that I bring in a sack of rice. They are all waiting for me) he said excitedly.
Furthermore he adds, “ingon akong asawa nga gi ingon sa ilang meeting nga di gyud kuno na pakalimtan nga gahinan ug pagkaon ang mga bata para saktong panglawas labi na ang utan” (My wife said that during the meetings, it is emphasize not to forget about food for good nutrition especially vegetables) said Reneboy as he picks up a bundle of kankong.
Reneboy is just one of the many fathers swarming the market place that day and all of them with a common goal of buying something good for their waiting wife and children.
DSWD official said, “Opportunities abound everywhere not just for the beneficiaries but also for small time entrepreneurs who are seen excitedly waiting by the entrance and exits of the municipal gym where the pay-out was held with their rice cakes, bread, ice water and juices, house wares and clothing which they were not disappointed at the end of the day.”
Habal-habal drivers too got their share as they make thrice their normal boundary or earnings as they ferry fathers to the market place and homes.
With the cash transfers of DSWD’s 4Ps, increasing opportunities for commerce as sacks of rice disappear from the counter straight to the shoulders of fathers or a waiting pedicab, but most of all more than four thousand families that night share a happy and healthy meal strengthening family bonds needed as they would together face challenges in crossing poverty threshold. (PIA NegOr/JCT)