BORACAY ISLAND, Aklan — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 6 (Western Visayas) on Friday released a livelihood grant worth PHP28.3 million to residents and workers, who have been affected by the closure of Boracay Island.
DSWD-6 distributed the livelihood grant to 1,887 recipients who belong to the last batch of beneficiaries of the department’s sustainable livelihood program (SLP) in Boracay. Each recipient received PHP15,000.
The recipients consisted of 877 residents of Barangay Manocmanoc, 391 from Balabag, and 51 from Yapak, as well as 568 members of organized groups in Boracay.
Rovi Christine Gonzales, DSWD’s SLP coordinator in Aklan, said in an interview on Friday that the last batch of beneficiaries was among the 10,597 recipients who have received livelihood grant since the island closed for a cleanup.
Of the total number of recipients, 5,146 were from Barangay Manocmanoc, 2,409 from Balabag, 1,375 from Yapak, and 1,667 from different organized groups.
In total, DSWD was able to release PHP158.9 million in livelihood grants to affected Boracay residents and non-formal workers, she said.
Gonzales said a total of 14,058 have been profiled for the SLP program. However, after the verification process and cross-matching with other DSWD programs, only 10,597 recipients have qualified to receive the grant, she added.
She clarified that some of those who were profiled were found to have family members, who have already availed of the grant.
“Only one family member in the household can avail of the livelihood grant,” she said, adding that those who have availed of transportation assistance from the department were also disqualified as beneficiary.
Even after the island reopens next month, the DSWD will continue to monitor the implementation of the SLP program in Boracay, Gonzales said.
“Project development officers will be assigned in the three barangays of Boracay to monitor recipients of the program,” she added. (Karen Bermejo/PNA)
