The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) this year has allocated 40 livelihood support under its Pangkabuhayan sa Pagbangon at Ginhawa (PPG) program for micro, small and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) operating in insurgency-cleared areas.

DTI is a member of the Poverty Reduction, Livelihood and Employment Cluster (PRLEC) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

“This is a convergence of several government agencies to provide livelihood assistance in the economic sector including the areas under armed conflict,” said DTI Iloilo director Felisa Judith Degala in an interview on Thursday.

She said the recipients are entitled to a package of assistance like information materials on entrepreneurship, enterprise development training, business counseling and mentoring, and provision of livelihood kits for them to recover or restart their livelihood,” she added.

The kits worth PHP8,000 each contain goods depending on their kind of business such as liquefied petroleum gas for their carinderias (eateries), stocks of rice if they are in the rice retailing business, and feeds if they are raising poultry, among others.

“They are already existing businesses so it is an enhancement,” the director added.

Of the 40 allocations, 31 recipients have been identified coming from the municipality of Calinog and Igbaras in Iloilo and Jaro, Iloilo City.

Other recipients are from the towns of Pototan, Batad, Pavia, Dingle, Badiangan, Oton, Cabatuan and Guimbal.

Degala added that while last year’s recipients can still be part of the beneficiaries this year, the DTI is trying to reach out to different areas.

Currently, they are in the process of profiling the target recipients in partnership with their local government units.

“Included in the profiling is the identification of the kit that we will procure for them,” she said.

The PPG, which has been given since 2020, aside from providing livelihood to insurgency-free areas, is also extended to other MSMEs affected by calamities such as floods and fire and to those who are “killed (to be given to immediate family members) or wounded in action (K/WIA)”.

This year, DTI has extended a total of 429 kits including the 40 for ELCAC areas and nine for the K/WIA. (PNA)