SLP beneficiaries to get cash aid

CEBU, Philippines —  At least 335 Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) beneficiaries in Cebu City will each get today P10,000 in cash aid.

The beneficiaries belong to 18 different SLP associations—10 in Barangay Sawang, three in Barangay Mambaling, and five in Barangay Banilad.

The cash distribution will be held at the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Barangay Carreta.

This is the third batch of distribution, according to Cebu City Department of Social Welfare and Services Chief Lea Japson.

SLP was launched in February this year. The program’s first recipients were 1,235 residents from the village of Mambaling.

Barangay Mambaling was chosen as the program’s pilot beneficiary as its homeowners’ associations were the first to comply with the requirements for the distribution of cash aid.

Recent record shows that there are over 70,000 eligible SLP beneficiaries in Cebu City.

The program aims to alleviate the living condition of the urban poor by giving them livelihood cash grants.

DSWD has set aside P70 million for the program in Cebu City. 

Japson said the P5,000 or half of the given amount will be allocated for the chosen business of the association, while the other half will go to the beneficiary for his/her chosen livelihood.

Japson said a monitoring team from the DSWD and the DSWS will monitor each homeowner association to ensure sustainability of the program.

The DSWD and the city government are targeting to complete the distribution of cash aid for the more than 70,000 SLP beneficiaries from the city’s 80 barangays this year.

Under the SLP, the DSWS chooses the beneficiaries of the program, while the DSWD distributes the cash assistance.

For an individual to qualify as a beneficiary of the SLP, he or she must be a resident of Cebu City whose annual salary is not more than P60,000.

Japson also said that those who have already availed other livelihood program of the DSWD are not qualified to join. — KBQ (FREEMAN)