ILOILO City – The Ilonggos have the Duterte administration’s full support to recover from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Labor secretary Silvestre Bello III, Budget secretary Wendel Avisado and Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) when they distributed financial and livelihood assistance and scholarship grants here yesterday.
“The mandate of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is clear: Give back to the people the taxes they pay… To the Duterte administration, local governments come first,” said Avisado, speaking in Hiligaynon to 180 punong barangays.
Bello, on the other hand, reiterated that the government is doing everything to help Filipinos recover from the ill effects of the pandemic.
“We have rolled out TUPAD [Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers] to cushion the impact of the pandemic to the ordinary people. We also have other programs to help overseas Filipino workers and other labor sectors get back on their feet,” Bello shared, also speaking in Hiligaynon.
Cong. Julienne “Jam-jam” Baronda thanked the two, along with OWWA administrator Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac, for their assistance.
“Thank you to Secretary ‘Mr. Tupad’ Bello and Secretary ‘Kuya’ Wendel Avisado for coming to my birthday to gift not me with anything but give the people of Iloilo City as well as the beneficiaries from other provinces government programs and assistance that will make them cope with the crisis,” Baronda said.
“They have been with me and with us all along. OWWA administrator Cacdac was also there at the airport when we sent home OFW repatriates in the early months of the pandemic. I would bump into him at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and at North Harbor. He was tireless. He did not let us down,” Baronda, who celebrated her birthday yesterday by sending 7,700 packed lunch meals to all the barangay frontliners in the city.
Mayor Jerry Treñas, meanwhile, expressed his gratitude to the trio for coming to the aid of the Ilonggos. He said Avisado has his communication lines open to local chief executives like him, which is a feat in itself.
“For the first time in my long years of experience in local government, this is the first time that the secretary of the DBM is just a text away,” said Treñas.
“Secretary Bello and myself go a long way. We would meet during meetings in Malacañang during the Arroyo administration. He did not let us down this pandemic. He sent us funds for our people to recover,” Treñas added before the turnover of 43 “Japanese bikes” which were donated through the initiative of Baronda to the frontliners of Iloilo City.
Greeting Baronda with his own version of the Happy Birthday song, Avisado assured Ilonggos they would continue to support the “governance of HOPE” being championed by the legislator in Iloilo City.
“Her governance of HOPE is aligned with the thrust of the budget department and we are here to support her,” he stressed.
Avisado gave in to the request of the village chiefs for 12 instead of seven emergency response vehicles that his office will send to the city for them to utilize for coronavirus pandemic responses and other initiatives for their constituents.
Bello led the turnover of Nego Karts to 50 beneficiaries – vendors who will be or were displaced by the infrastructure developments at the Jaro Big Market and Mandurriao public market.
Each cart, which was facilitated by Baronda, costs P20,000 or a total of P1,000,000.
Bello told the DOLE regional office to allocate P10,000 in seed capital to each vendor or a total of P500,000 after knowing that Baronda recently facilitated the release of Department of Social Welfare and Development assistance these beneficiaries at P5,000 each.
Manang Neneng was happy to receive a Nego Kart which she would use to sell processed food products and other items in replacement of her eatery at the Jaro Public Market. “I am so happy. Thank you, Cong. Jam. I will have livelihood for my family.”
Bello also ordered the allocation of additional 100 TUPAD beneficiaries from each barangay in Iloilo City.
DOLE, through the endorsement of Cong. Baronda, already released P23,164,230 in funding assistance to 5,180 beneficiaries from Iloilo City under Bayanihan Act 2.
Another 38 beneficiaries with P150,100 funding assistance were from Iloilo City.
TUPAD is a community-based package of assistance that provides emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers, for a minimum period of 10 days, but not to exceed a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work to be performed.
In 2021, DOLE allocated P45 million in assistance to Iloilo City through its Government Internship Program (GIP), Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Displaced / Disadvantaged Workers Program (TUPAD), and COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP).
From the time Cong. Baronda assumed office in 2019 up to December of last year, around P47 million in monetary assistance was facilitated by her office for employment programs in Iloilo City.
Also, an additional amount of close to P8 million was released to individuals whose livelihoods have been affected by COVID-19 last year.
OWWA, on the other hand, helped 67,576 OFWs to come home through its repatriation program. Of this, 6,731 were from Iloilo City.
Yesterday, it ceremonially distributed assistance to some 60 beneficiaries of its various programs such as Balik Pinas, Balik Hanapbuhay Program which grants P20,000 to an OFW who returns home to start a livelihood project; DOLE-AKAP for OFWS where each distressed OFW recipient is given P10,000; Project EASE that grants P10,000 in scholarship assistance per year for four years; and Tabang OFW scholarship that gives P30,000 scholarship to a dependent of an OFW repatriate.
Baronda, who was joined by Councilor Lady Julie Grace “Love” Baronda and their father, former Iloilo City Health Officer Dr. Urminico Baronda Jr. as well as Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon and Councilor Rudolph Ganzon, thanked Avisado, Bello and Cacdac for their commitment to keep on helping the Ilonggos.
“I cannot thank them enough for what they have done to me and to the entire City of Iloilo. We work silently, even going beyond making laws. I know many of you have received something from the government in this time of crisis. Rest assured I will not stop asking for more from our national government officials. Our promise to share HOPE is not an empty promise. It is already being experienced. And you will have more, with God’s grace,” said Baronda./PN
