Rural poverty is a complex socioeconomic problem that cannot simply be addressed by one government program alone. Existing programs should be reinforced with other complementary solutions to make poverty reduction and development more effective.

Undoubtedly, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps/Conditional Cash Transfer Program) is the government’s centerpiece anti-poverty program. By providing opportunities for poor families to send their children to school and avail of free medical assistance, the program helps towards the attainment of universal access to education and the reduction of child and maternal mortality. As of the third quarter of 2015, the Pantawid Pamilya  has covered 4.3 million poor households with a total cash allocation of P27.1 billion.

But while the program is no doubt beneficial, there have also been some questions raised against it. One is the sustainability of sending children to schools because the P1,300 cash grant may not be enough to cover all the expenses that they need to study in school. This concern is magnified several times over when parents have no jobs or sources of livelihood.

Under the government’s Accelerated and Sustainable Anti-Poverty Program (ASAPP), special attention has been focused on providing poor families with alternative livelihood opportunities to bridge the lack of viable income sources. ASAPP is a government initiative that is meant to ensure that growth will translate to increased income of the poor by creating better quality employment opportunities for the poor and by fostering public-private partnerships.

Camarines Sur was targeted as one of the ten provinces to avail of services from ASAPP because of its 136,377 poor households. While the province’s cities and municipalities have the potential to grow economically, it has been constrained by having a population with limited skills, limited expansion opportunities for businesses, and huge in-migration. The government under the ASAPP is working closely with the private sector and local government units to operationalize the program, particularly on the provision of business and job opportunities to target households.

One of the municipalities identified for ASAPP implementation in Camarines Sur was Libmanan. With 75 barangays and a population of 100,002, it is the biggest municipality in the province. But while Libmanan is regarded as a picturesque first-class municipality, there is still a considerable number of poor families in the area that need assistance.

In the municipality, 150 individuals, most of whom are youth ages 18 to 25, underwent a month-long skills and livelihood training on wig production, a partnership of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) with Aderans Philippines, Inc. and Anando Marketing and Services. DSWD funded the toolkits amounting to P50,000 and the daily allowance of P306 for each participant during the month-long training.

Anando Marketing is engaged in trading, marketing, repairs, and sub-contracting of personal goods such as wigs and make-up, and in skills training. Aderans Philippines is a Japanese firm based in the Philippines that manufactures and exports hairpieces and related accessories.

The DSWD and the two private firms also inked a memorandum of agreement to facilitate the employment of Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries in the factory and in community-based wig production.

Jaime Saballegue, DSWD-Project Development Officer, shared that the identification of the beneficiaries for the skills and livelihood training was done during the conduct of the Family Development Sessions (FDS), which meant that most of the trainees were Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries.

Saballegue added that at the start of the training, the mothers were the ones who were identified to participate. However, according to the trainer, these mothers found it difficult to focus on production because of poor vision. Thus, they decided to have their children, who are currently out of school, to undergo the training.

According to Aderans Philippines, it is easier to train young people instead of the mothers who also have numerous responsibilities in their households.

Rachelle Alvaro, 22, of Barangay Palangon, Libmanan is the top producer of wigs.  Rachelle commented that she is able to produce 12 to 13 wigs per week. She is paid P4,000 a month, and says she hopes to earn more in the near future. She is also happy that she can now help augment the family income. She is grateful that she was chosen as one of the beneficiaries.

Rachelle narrated that, at first, she was not interested in joining the training but, later on, became skilled in crafting wigs. She also considers the training to be an opportunity to work abroad, since Aderans is exporting their products to different countries. With her earnings, Rachelle has been able to start a hog raising project. “I saved my P306 daily allowances, and was able to purchase hogs for extra income,” she enthused.

The wig production initiative in Libmanan is just one example of how government and the private sector under the ASAPP can collaborate to provide skills development and livelihood support to poor families. As similar projects are implemented under the ASAPP and more provinces are covered, it will not take long before the program can finally impact substantially in reducing poverty in the countryside. ###