DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental (PIA) -- Jamaica Palama’s variety store in Malo, Siaton town was razed by a fire in January this year. The fire started at the back of the stall she was renting for her variety store. The flame eventually engulfed the surrounding structures within the vicinity.
Paloma pegged the amount of the damages caused by the fire incident at P500,000. It did not only destroy the items she sold in her store but also burnt her appliances, including freezers and refrigerators.
Months later, Palama was able to find new ways to earn money. She said her family was able to own a small fishing boat and they turned to fishing as their main source of livelihood.
Helping micro entrepreneurs rebuild their business
Like Palama, 22 other micro entrepreneurs in Negros Oriental also lost their businesses due to fire incidents last year and early this year.
To help rebuild their businesses, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) chose them as beneficiaries of its Pangkabuhayan para sa Pagbangon at Ginhawa (PPG) Program, a livelihood seeding and entrepreneurship program that aims to assist micro entrepreneurs who lost their businesses due to calamities.
In Negros Oriental, recipients of this aid were given Negosyo Kits, which they can exchange for goods and items at DTI-accredited wholesaler shops that they can sell in their own stores.
The DTI distributed Negosyo Kits to another batch of PPG beneficiaries composed of 23 micro entrepreneurs at Lee Plaza Mall on Nov. 9, 2023.
Of the total, 18 were from Siaton, four from Mabinay, and one from Ayungon town.
The kits came in the form of vouchers worth P8,000, which they can exchange for goods at Lee Plaza, an accredited wholesaler of DTI.
Palama thanked DTI for the said assistance.
“Makaingon ra ka gamay sa uban pero dako nang tabang para sa amoa kay di man ta pirming naa tay kwarta maambang sa tagsa ka store. Karon naay DTI na nihatag parap maka-rise up na pod ang atong negosyo nawala (This may be a small amount for some people but this is already a big help for us. We don’t always have the money to roll for our store. At least DTI is here to help our businesses rise up),” Palama said.
Sen. Bong Go sends help
The funds for the PPG program came from the office of Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go.
“Supposed to be wala na ni na budget. If you remember niingon ko ninyo last year na for next year (20230 dili na sure ang budget aning program but gitagaan pa mi og additional (budget) later na this year maoi na karon pa ni nakahatag sa fire victims (Supposedly the budget for this program has been cut. If you recall, I announced last year that the budget for this program this year is unsure. Furtunately, they allocated funding for this program in the latter part of the year, that is why we are only able to distribute the assistance to the victims now),” said DTI Negros Oriental Provincial Director Nimfa Virtucio.
Go expressed his commitment to support the program to help uplift individuals and families, particularly those engaged in micro-enterprising, who have been affected by disasters, calamities, and other crisis incidents such as local armed conflicts.
“Ang PPG Program ay isang malinaw na halimbawa kung paano natin maipapakita ang malasakit at support sa ating mga kababayan sa tinamaan ng mga pasubok (The PPG program is one way to express our compassion and support to our fellowmen who are facing great challenges in their lives),” Go said in a video message which was shown to the recipients and local DTI officials.
With this, Virtucio hopes that government officials will continue to support this program, noting that many micro, small, and medium enterprisers were able to benefit from it.
“Maayo man kaayo ang dagan sa program. Daghan natabangan (na negosyante). We hope nga next year naa na pod siya sa budget (The program has been rolled out well and a lot of businesses benefited from it. We hope that this will still be included in the budget next year),” Virtucio said.
Early this year, a separate batch of PPG beneficiaries composed of 123 micro-entrepreneurs who were victims of typhoon Odette and recent typhoons received P7,500 worth of Negosyo Kits from DTI to help them re-start their businesses. (RAL/PIA7 Negros Oriental)
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