In accordance with Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) is set for a region-wide simultaneous distribution of Livelihood Assistance Grants (LAG).
Target beneficiaries were pre-assessed as for the provision of LAG with the following criteria of the DSWD:
- Included in the list of target families as enumerated in Section VI-A of the Omnibus Guidelines in the implementation of Emergency Subsidy Program (ESP) of DSWD and with at least one (1) member working in the informal sector prior to the ECQ/CQ;
- Profiled through the Social Amelioration Card (SAC) for non-4Ps and included in the Pantawid database for the 4Ps beneficiaries;
- Source/s of income (employment, livelihood, etc.) were affected during the Enhanced Quarantine Period (ECQ) or locally-declared or mandated quarantine and/or projected to continuously be affected in the next three (3) to six (6) months after the lifting of the ECQ and locally-declared or mandated community quarantine); and
- Not included as recipients of various livelihood recovery or rehabilitation projects of other national government agencies and/or other stakeholders.
The assessment process of LAG started during the community quarantine period in order to facilitate the processing and provision of LAG. The C/MLGUs in the collaboration of key leaders or official of existing organizations/associations/groups of informal sectors in the city or municipality identified feasible, profitable resource-based and market-driven livelihood projects which are contributory to the livelihood recovery and rehabilitation.
For the LAG fund utilization, the table shows the no. of beneficiaries per province:
| PROVINCE | TOTAL NO. OF LRPP/MUNIS | TOTAL NO. OF MINIMUM PAX | AMOUNT |
| ALBAY | 18 | 1,736 | Php 14,924,121.99 |
| CAMARINES NORTE | 12 | 969 | Php 6,030,000.00 |
| CAMARINES SUR | 37 | 2,561 | Php 22,182,489.34 |
| CATANDUANES | 11 | 484 | Php 3,915,000.00 |
| MASBATE | 9 | 1,119 | Php 12,254,995.00 |
| SORSOGON | 15 | 776 | Php 9,179,378.00 |
| TOTAL | 102 | 7,645 | Php 68,485,985.67 |
Schedule of distribution of LAG was coordinated with the C/LGUs and beneficiaries were advised to prepare the required and complete documents.
Regional Program Coordinator, Earl Maximillan A. Cecilio said that the expected outcome after LAG was provided is for the grant recipient or the eligible family to have income-generating economic activities. A beneficiary may opt to have micro-enterprise and employment-related projects at the same time or may opt to have one (1) or more micro-enterprise or employment-related projects. Provided, however, that the amount of LAG for all the project/s identified by the beneficiary should not exceed Fifteen Thousand Pesos (Php 15,000.00).
Further, LAG is a financial assistance granted to eligible low-income families belonging to the informal sectors whose livelihoods were affected by the community quarantine, and can be used as (1) support to preferred micro-enterprise activities of the beneficiary; or, (2) augmentation to the expenses on pre-employment, food, as well as transportation allowance of the beneficiary during the first month of employment.
Furthermore, SLP is a community-based capacity building program that aims to improve the socio-economic condition of the participants. It facilitates interventions that expand the existing livelihood assets (human, social, physical, natural, and financial capital) of the participants so they may either have gainful employment or establish their chosen micro-enterprise. #PRNPOJ01/25/2021