The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has awarded PHP500,000 to an association of fruit and vegetable vendors at the city public market here to support their livelihood venture.

The Dumaguete Public Market Fruits and Vegetables Vendors Association, comprising 87 members, mostly women, received the assistance recently, Luchel Taniza, labor information officer of DOLE 7 (Central Visayas) said in an interview Thursday.

Taniza said the Dumaguete West City Vendors Association, being the DOLE-7’s accredited co-partner (ACP), would ensure that the livelihood project intended for the fruit vendors’ group would become operational sooner.

“The budget for the livelihood assistance will be downloaded through the ACP and they will take charge of the canvassing and procurement of all the materials and equipment that the beneficiary association will need for their project,” she said in mixed English and Cebuano.

The ACP will then turn these over to the beneficiary association and will also be responsible for the liquidation of the funds, she added.

The livelihood program – a major component of the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP) – is one of the flagship programs of the department, which continues to provide financial assistance to disadvantaged and self-employed individuals struggling to make both ends meet.

Also covered by the program are unpaid family workers, those with low wages, seasonal workers, and those facing displacement, the DOLE-7 said in a media release.

Lourdes Nalam, association president, thanked the DOLE-7 and assured them that the association would be responsible for managing the livelihood assistance that the DOLE-7 handed to them. (PNA)