The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Western Visayas region (DSWD 6) started on Wednesday the payout of the PHP20.6-million allocation for 2,289 beneficiaries of the Risk Resiliency Program (RRP) in the five municipalities of Antique.

Mylene Binondo, DSWD 6 preparedness for response section chief, said initial recipients were the 301 beneficiaries from the Municipality of Barbaza working under the Local Adaptation to Water Access (LAWA) and Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverished (BINHI).

“The RRP implementation in the Municipality of Barbaza started on May 22 to June 20,” Binondo said in an interview.

The beneficiaries constructed a small water reservoir and engaged in communal gardening by planting okra, eggplant, and fruit-bearing trees in identified service areas in the municipality to ensure food sufficiency.

“Beneficiaries from two other towns, Sebaste and Valderrama, will also be receiving their wages in the next two days,” Binondo said.

Sebaste has 175 beneficiaries while Valderrama has 328.

Similar initiatives are implemented in San Remigio with 734 beneficiaries, and Sibalom, with 751 recipients.

Each of the recipients will get PHP450 for a day’s work in their community.

“As of today, there are already 15 LAWA projects and 25 sites with BINHI communal gardening established in the five municipalities in Antique,” Binondo said.

Binondo said the five municipalities were chosen as recipients of the RRP based on their vulnerability to climate change and with the most number of low-income families. (PNA)