After the devastation wrought by Typhoon Yolanda, the residents of Leyte Province – one of the hardest hit areas – found themselves without their regular sources of livelihood.

However, the launching of the Accelerated and Sustainable Anti-Poverty Program (ASAPP) of the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster (HDPRC) gave them the reason to hope once again.

ASAPP is the concerted effort of all national government agencies to provide more livelihood ventures for poor families in identified provinces, cities, and municipalities all over the country.

The ASAPP framework to reduce poverty utilizes the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), a community-based capacity building effort that seeks to improve the program participants’ socio-economic status.

SLP is implemented through two tracks: Micro-enterprise Development and Employment Facilitation.

The Micro-enterprise Development track supports micro-enterprises in becoming organizationally and economically viable by providing capital assistance, whereas the Employment Facilitation track assists participants to access appropriate employment opportunities. Both tracks are executed based on the Community-Driven Enterprise Development (CDED) approach, which equips program participants to actively contribute to production and labor markets by looking at available resources and accessible markets.

Abuyog, Leyte was one of the municipalities identified for ASAPP implementation. It is a first class municipality in the province of Leyte with a population of 57,146 based in the 2010 census. With its land area measuring 688.2 kilometers, it is the largest town in Leyte.

For 2015, SLP targeted about 90,078 beneficiaries in Leyte for a total funding of P547,699,392.

Getting back on their feet

For families affected by ‘Yolanda,’ starting a new life is not easy and fast. It takes a lot of determination, perseverance, and commitment to regain normalcy in life. This is what happened to the three women beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, named: Leslie de la Serna, Josephine Lleve, and Emee Montesclaros, all from Abuyog, Leyte. These women reaped gains from the ASAPP program’s focus on livelihood generation through SLP.

The three women, who were plain housewives, used to concentrate only on household chores and taking care of their children. Becoming beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilya – and later on, of SLP – changed their lives. The doors of opportunity opened, paving the way for their active participation in their respective communities’ affairs.

Now, they serve as volunteers in the implementation of other DSWD programs and projects.

Leslie, 31, from Barangay Sta. Fe, narrated that she earns income as a Barangay Health Worker, receiving P500.00 monthly. “Ang kinikita ko bilang BHW at yung cash grants na natatanggap namin para sa kalusugan at edukasyon ng tatlo naming anak ay napakalaking tulong sa aming pamilya (My earnings as A BHW and the cash grants we receive for the health and education of our three children is a big help to our family.)

Leslie is also a Pantawid Pamilya parent leader handling Family Development Sessions (FDS), a regular activity participated in by the program’s partner-beneficiaries; and she is a leader of the local chapter of Samaritan’s Purse, a non-governmental organization which provides food, water, shelter, medicine, and other assistance to victims of armed conflict, disaster, famine, and epidemics.

She became a member of the SLP-organized Yolanda Micro-enterprise Association which operates a mini-grocery selling low-priced grocery items.

The group was able to avail of the free interest loan which was released to them on August 6, 2015. They started their operation on August 10, with their first sale amounting to P500.

The average sales of their mini-grocery now reaches P4,000 per month.

Gradually, the family income of the members increased, enabling them to meet not only their daily needs and expenses, but those of their neighbors as well.

“Nakatulong din sa aming komunidad ang pagtatayo namin ng mini-grocery dahil hindi na nila kailangang pumunta pa sa Tacloban para mamili. Mas mura din ang aming mga paninda (The mini-grocery that we opened also helped the villagers since they no longer have to go to Tacloban to buy their grocery items. The products that we sell are also cheaper),” Leslie proudly shared.

On the other hand, Josephine, 43, of Barangay Sto. Nino, narrated, “Bago dumating ang ‘Yolanda’, meron kaming halamanang may mga tanim na okra, ampalaya, upo at patola. Kumikita kami ng ekstra sa pagbebenta ng mga gulay mula sa aming halamanan (Before ‘Yolanda,’ we had our own garden planted with okra, ampalaya, upo, and patola. We earn extra income from selling our vegetable garden’s harvest).”

Recently, Josephine and 11 other women from their village received capital assistance of P120,000 from DSWD-SLP. They used this money to start a mini–grocery where fellow Pantawid Pamilya members buy their children’s school needs and food.

“Hindi kami iniwan ng DSWD. Kahit na noong pagkatapos ng ‘Yolanda,’ dagli kaming nakatanggap ng relief goods. Higit na interesado ngayon ang aming mga anak sa pag-aaral (The DSWD has never left us. After ‘Yolanda,’ we immediately received relief goods. Our children are now even more interested in schooling),” she expounded.

Likewise, Emee, 38, of Barangay Balocawe shared, “Bilang isang parent-leader ng Pantawid Pamilya, binibigyan ko ng motibasyon ang mga kapwa ko miyembro na huwag lamang umasa sa cash grants na ibinibigay ng programa (As a parent–leader of Pantawid Pamilya, I motivate my fellow members not to depend solely on the cash grants given by the program),” she stated.

Emme and her husband, Clyde, 44, work hard to provide for their children’s needs. They also produce and sell tuba or coconut wine as additional source of income.

Aside from this, Emme, together with six of her neighbors, is now into piggery funded by SLP.

With the positive changes in their lives, Leslie, Josephine, and Emme have proven that it is possible to start anew, even after a devastating calamity such as ‘Yolanda’ which practically wiped away everything they worked for.

All it takes is hard work and determination, coupled by the convergence of government programs and resources under ASAPP. ###