Two residents of Iloilo province are preparing to open small businesses after receiving P20,000 each from the government, part of an assistance package extended to relatives of overseas Filipino workers who ran into trouble abroad.
Maricel Chavez Miro of Barangay Palaciawan in Barotac Nuevo intends to put up a variety store. Ian Justin Animas of Barangay Dawis in Ajuy plans to open a sari-sari store. Both were named as recipients by the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Western Visayas, according to the Philippine Information Agency.
“Nagpapasalamat gid ako sa DSWD sa ginahatag nila nga livelihood assistance, kay daku gid ini nga bulig sa pagpamag-an sang amon sitwasyon sa pinansyal kag makabulig man ini nga pandugang sa amon nga kinahanglanon,” Miro said.
Animas said the grant lets him begin earning for his child. “Madamo gid nga salamat sa DSWD kay pinaagi sa ginhatag nila nga livelihood assistance, makaumpisa na ako sang akon negosyo agud mabuligan ko ang akon bata. Daku gid ini nga bulig sa akon pangabuhi kag mangin dugang nga pangitan-an para sa amon pamilya,” he said.
The money moves through the DSWD’s Sustainable Livelihood Program, which treats the amount as start-up capital rather than relief. Households qualify when a family member working overseas has encountered circumstances that leave them unable to send support, leaving dependents without their usual income.
Names of qualified relatives came out of the OFW Serbisyo Caravan, where several agencies gathered in one venue to deliver services to migrant workers and their families. Registration at the caravan was handled by the SLP National Program Management Office, which compiled the records of family members of distressed OFWs.
Those records went to DSWD Field Office 6, where staff screened and verified each name against program guidelines before releasing the funds.
Officials framed the releases within the Marcos administration’s Bagong Pilipinas agenda, which sets poverty reduction, growth at the community level, and protection for OFWs and their households among its priorities.
