400 Cebu City vendors to get P20 thousand groceries

CEBU, Philippines —  The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-7 will be giving P20,000 worth of grocery items as livelihood assistance to the 400 displaced Cebu City sidewalk vendors who were  affected  by the road clearing operations early this year.

Raquel Arce, chief of the Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification and Enhancement (PROBE) team of the Cebu City government said that this is not an assistance due to the COVID-19 pandemic but due to the road clearing operations that the Department of Interior and Local Government had ordered a few months ago.

Arce said the distribution of the assistance will start tomorrow at Plaza Independencia and will be distributed to about 100 beneficiaries a day to maintain social distancing.  This will run until Thursday.

Of the 400 beneficiaries, 86 are senior citizens.  Their grocery items will be delivered to their respective residences.

Arce added the city has around 600 to 700 sidewalk vendors, however, only 400 have attended the DOLE training on livelihood.

“Naay uban wala sila niapil sa training kay dili sila gusto og grocery items ang ihatag isip livelihood assistance. Gusto nila kay cash gyud,” said Arce.

Arce added that the labor department will monitor the progress of this livelihood assistance.

DOLE-7 Regional Information Officer Luchel Taniza said that the livelihood assistance is a total grant.

“Wala gyud silay bayranan ana sa DOLE. Pero naay mo-monitor sa mga beneficiaries kung na-sustain ba nila ang livelihood. Aron og naay second round sa grant, mahatagan gihapon sila,” Taniza said.

The names and schedules are posted on Cebu City Information Office’s Facebook page.

Arce added that these affected sidewalk vendors have asked assistance from Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella and Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino for the granting of DOLE’s livelihood assistance.  GAN (FREEMAN)