Kidapawan ambulant vendors get aid from LGU, DOLE

KIDAPAWAN CITY -About 105 ambulant vendors and beneficiaries of the government’s conditional cash grant here received some P1.062 million worth of ‘starter kits’ for livelihood projects from Central Mindanao’s regional labor department.Of the beneficiaries, 62 were vendors of ‘kwek-kwek’, ‘balut’, farm laborers,and small sari-sari store owners, and 42 were beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). The distribution of ‘Kabuhayan Starter Kits’, according to Assistant regional director Yahyah Centi of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for Region 12, is a livelihood strategy intended for the improvement of workers in the informal sector. The starter kit will help them start their own livelihoods, Centi explained. Herminia Infanta, manager of the Public Employment Services Office (PESO) of the Kidapawan City Government, said the projects were identified by the beneficiaries and the proposals were submitted to their office for evaluation and eventually, approval. The approach, she stressed, was holistic. We are giving them the starter kits to help them have extra income.By doing this, it would give them dignity and earn the respect of the community. And at the same time, these informal workers help contribute to the improvement of the city’s economy,” she said. City Mayor Joseph Evangelista said the beneficiaries of Kabuhayan Starter Kits received sewing, cosmetology, cooking kits, and materials for meat processing. The turnover which was held Wednesday at the Kidapawan City Convention Hall was just the first phase. Early next year, Evangelista said some 120 beneficiaries will receive another set of ‘Kabuhayan’ starter kits worth P1.6 million.