Some 282 families in the Ilocos Region are set to receive PHP50,000 worth of livelihood assistance grants under the Balik Probinsya Bagong Pag-asa program (BP2).

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Ilocos Region BP2 program focal person Reysa Pilotin said the families have returned to their respective localities in the provinces of Pangasinan and Ilocos Sur.

“They were referred to the DSWD by their local government units (LGU) as recipients of the BP2 program,” he said in a phone interview on Monday.

Pilotin said these families were from Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, Bicol Region, Cebu, Batangas, Laguna, Olongapo, and National Capital Region.

“They were having difficulty with the high cost of living in these areas thus they decided to go back to their home provinces,” she said.

Pilotin said most of them proposed to start a sari-sari or rolling store as they need daily income, while some preferred to start livestock farming or poultry from their livelihood assistance grant.

Aside from the livelihood, she said each family will also receive a transitory package worth PHP40,000.

“We are in coordination with the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office of the LGU to monitor the beneficiaries. If in the future they would violate the agreement, they will no longer be part of any program,” she added.

Among the reasons cited by those who availed of the BP2 program were loss of jobs or other sources of income, unsafe current dwelling places, exposure to health and safety risks, and other environmental hazards.

The BP2 is a program of the national government addressing congestion in Metro Manila by encouraging dwellers, especially informal settlers, to return to their home provinces and assist them during the entire process. (PNA)