Legazpi City – A total of 1,920 partner-beneficiaries from the province of Sorsogon have received their cash assistance under the implementation of the Risk Resiliency Program (RRP) Project LAWA at BINHI, of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office 5.

The payout was conducted from July 12 to 14, 2024, in the towns of Donsol (396), Pilar (586), Magallanes (276), Casiguran (204), and Castilla (458), where beneficiaries respectively received their cash assistance.

The agency was able to distribute a total of PHP15,168,000.00 in cash assistance to the partner-beneficiaries in the province.

Each partner-beneficiary was granted PHP7,900 after participating in a twenty-day cash-for-training (CFT) program, involving learning and development sessions on RRP, disaster resiliency, climate change adaptation and mitigation, DRRM frameworks, and workshops on project sustainability. And cash-for-work (CFW) activities, including the construction of small reservoirs for water security, rehabilitation of water sources, and developing communal gardens for food security.

As of this press time, the field office has distributed PHP 21,977,800.00 in cash assistance to 2,782 partner-beneficiaries in 10 municipalities in the provinces of Catanduanes and Sorsogon.

The agency will continue its simultaneous payouts in the remaining five implementing Local Government Units (LGUs) in the province of Masbate in the coming days.

Project LAWA at BINHI or the Local Adaptation to Water Access and Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverish initiated by DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, aim to strengthen the adaptive capabilities of poor and vulnerable families during severe drought and mitigate the food insecurity and water scarcity caused by the El Niño phenomenon.

This initiative also aims to address and prevent adversities and challenges that may be caused by La Niña and establishes long-term solutions to mitigate the impact of water scarcity and food insufficiency on vulnerable communities during disasters.###