The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through its Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) has partnered with Holcim Philippines, Inc., a leading cement company in the country, to provide livelihood opportunities to poor families in Davao City.
Under the partnership, a total of 129 families were provided with livelihood skills training on welding and hollow blocks production.
Holcim paid for the tuition fees of the beneficiaries as well as provided starter kits to ensure that they can immediately utilize their newly-acquired knowledge to build their entrepreneurial activities.
Of the total beneficiaries, 36 are also grantees of Pantawid Pamilya like the Momfil Family of Barangay Sasa, Davao City.
The Momfil Family receives the monthly conditional cash grant of P1,400 under the program.
“Nagpapasalamat po ako sa Pantawid Pamilya dahil sa pagbibigay niya sa aking pamilya ng bagong pag-asa para mapabuti ang aming kalagayan (I am thankful for the program which gave my family the spark of hope to improve our lives),” Merlinda said.
Pantawid Pamilya is a human development program that invests in the health and education of poor families, primarily those with children aged 0-18. It provides monthly cash grants to beneficiaries who comply with the conditions of sending their children to school, bringing them to health centers, and attending the Family Development Sessions.
However, Merlinda said that it was still a struggle to meet all the needs of the family. That is why, she is thankful that her husband Junito was identified as a beneficiary of the DSWD-Holcim livelihood partnership which started last year.
Junito participated in the shielded metal arc welding and in the hollow blocks production.
Recognizing the success of the partnership, DSWD and Holcim expanded their engagement with the later providing an additional funding of P10 million for the skills enhancement training on masonry, plumbing, carpentry, and concrete hollow blocks production.
Holcim also donated a three-hectare residential lot for the relocation of families in disaster-prone areas.
The beneficiaries who underwent skills training were also the ones hired to build the houses at the relocation site, which provided them with a source of income.
Aside from the livelihood opportunity, the Momfil Family was also among the recipients of the newly constructed disaster-resistant houses.
Merlinda said, “Alam ko na kahit anong sabihin ko ay di pa rin sasapat para ipahiwatig ang aking pasasalamat sa tulong na ito ng ating Panginoon sa pamamagitan ng DSWD (I know that whatever I say to express my gratefulness would never be enough for the Lord’s generous blessings given to us through the DSWD).”
She vowed that she would take good care of their new home and to always put to good use the trainings that they have learned to further improve their plight.
Forging partnerships
Recognizing the importance of engaging the business sector in nation building especially in complementing government resources, the DSWD through SLP continues to forge partnerships with business organizations to implement various programs and services for poor families especially beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.
“SLP is an important intervention provided to needy families as livelihood is important in sustaining progress,” Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said.
SLP is a community-based capacity building program that seeks to improve the program participants’ socio-economic status. It is implemented through two tracks: Microenterprise Development and Employment Facilitation.
Since 2011, when SLP was first implemented, a total of 1,036,786 Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries have been assisted by the program. ###
