Insurgent-cleared villages in Iloilo get P2-M livelihood aid

From the Philippine News Agency (May 19, 2022): Insurgent-cleared villages in Iloilo get P2-M livelihood aid (By Perla Lena)

ASSISTANCE. Personnel of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Iloilo Field Office led by its head Melisa S. Navarra (3rd from left) talks with officers of the Manampunay Farmers Association on the sustainability of their proposed Rice and Farm Inputs Retailing Project following the turnover of their fund on Feb. 17, 2022. DOLE Information Officer John Mandario on Thursday (May 19, 2022), said monitoring of the progress of their funded projects is ongoing. (Photo courtesy of DOLE-6)

Sixteen barangays in Iloilo that have been cleared from the influence of communist insurgents are recipients of over PHP2 million in aid under the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Program (DILEEP) this 2022.

Information officer John Mandario, in an interview on Thursday, said DOLE is one of the members of the Poverty Reduction Livelihood and Employment Cluster (PRLEC) of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC).

“Those were last quarter proposals but were only disbursed this year because they went through verification with the RTF-ELCAC if whether or not they are already cleared,” he said.

On Feb. 10, DOLE released some PHP2 million for the cattle fattening and vegetable production projects of four associations benefiting 200 member-recipients from Marginalized Farmers Association, Tubungan Indigenous Peoples Business Association, Boloc Indigenous People Farmers Association, and Former Person Deprived of Liberty Association.

The recipients were from 15 barangays in the municipality of Tubungan in Iloilo province that were cleared from insurgency.

They were provided with 45 heads of livestock and 155 sets of vegetable production inputs as part of the assistance.

Another beneficiary was the 58-member Manampunay Farmers Association in the municipality of Leon, which received PHP497,080 for its Rice and Farm Inputs Retailing Project.

The association is composed of marginalized farmers, indigenous people, rebel returnees, and senior citizens.

Mandario said the DOLE Iloilo field office visited the association on Thursday to look into the acquisition of their needed materials after the funds were released back on February 17.

“We do monitoring to make the project sustainable. Since it’s a government fund, we would like to know its viability and progress,” he added.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1174867