Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian assured affected vendors and food stall owners in the cities of Pasay and Parañaque that they will receive government assistance to help them cope with the temporary closures of their small businesses due to security measures for the upcoming ASEAN Summit.
“Bagamat humihingi kami ng paumanhin sa mga naantala ang hanapbuhay dahil sa napipintong ASEAN Summit, ang direktiba ng ating Pangulo (Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.) ay masigurado na mabigyan sila ng tulong pinansyal kasi alam natin na wala silang kikitain sa mga araw na iyon (Although we apologize to those whose livelihoods have been disrupted due to the upcoming ASEAN Summit, the directive of our President is to ensure that they are provided with financial assistance because we know they will have no income during those days),” Gatchalian told reporters on Wednesday during a payout for affected vendors at the Andres Bonifacio Elementary School in Pasay City.
Gatchalian said the DSWD is expecting to finish all payouts by Friday to ensure that before the ASEAN Summit, the basic needs of vendors and their families will be met.
“Kasi alam ninyo, yung pag-antala ng livelihood is a crisis situation. Nauunawaan natin na yung hanapbuhay importante iyan so pag hindi sila kumita ng isang araw ay maituturing natin na krisis iyon (Because as you know, disrupting people’s livelihoods creates a crisis situation. We understand that a person’s livelihood is vital, so if they don’t earn an income for even a single day, we can consider that a crisis),” the DSWD chief pointed out.
Each affected vendor will receive PHP10,000 in financial aid under the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program as well as family food packs (FFPs).
“Noong Linggo, nag-payout tayo ng 30 na ganyang establisyemento na tig-sasampung libo. Ngayon mayroon tayong 50 na mabibigyan ng tig-PHP10,000 (Last Sunday, we paid out 30 of those establishments at PHP 10,000 each. Today, we have 50 that will each receive PHP 10,000),” Gatchalian said.
Vendors along Baclaran Church in Parañaque City will also receive assistance from the Department immediately once their local government units (LGUs) submit their finalized list of beneficiaries to the DSWD.
“Yung hawak namin sa Parañaque, yung mga vendors sa Baclaran side, 1,300 iyon, and then, yung Pasay vina-validate pa yung list, bukas ibibigay nila sa amin yung mga vendors sa Baclaran side ng Pasay. Basta ang goal namin, all by Friday naabot na namin yung tig-sasampung libo na tulong pinansyal pati na rin yung mga food packs (As for the ones we are handling in Parañaque—specifically the vendors on the Baclaran side—there are 1,300 of them. Meanwhile, Pasay is still validating their list, and they will give us the list of vendors on the Pasay side of Baclaran tomorrow. Our goal is to have distributed the PHP10,000 financial assistance, along with the food packs, to everyone by Friday),” Gatchalian said.
“Basta lahat iyan matutulungan natin kaagad. Ang direktiba ng Pangulo, bago magsimula ang ASEAN Summit. Humihingi kami ng paumanhin pero sisiguraduhin namin na makakatulong tayo sa kanila sa kanilang mga hanap-buhay (As long as we can help all of them right away. The President’s directive is to do this before the ASEAN Summit starts. We apologize, but we will make sure that we can help them with their livelihoods),” the DSWD chief added. (PNA)
