CHAIR of the city council’s trade and commerce committee Councilor George Goking over the weekend sought additional funding for the city’s trade, industry, labor and agriculture departments (DTI), (DOLE), (DA) for 2022 to support their Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) that will empower the country’s Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.
In a statement, Goking said the budget of these departments for SLP should be increased to ensure continuity for livelihood programs of the local government to alleviate poverty.
Goking, who is the concurrent chair of the City Council committee on ways and means, wanted to have more budget as small businesses suffered much from the Covid 19 pandemic.
He said for two years, their livelihood has become a problem.
“The program increases the economic opportunities of small businesses by equipping them with additional budget for their entrepreneurial and labor skills for self-sufficiency,” said Goking.
Sustainable livelihood programs are key to an effective pandemic recovery, Goking explained.
He said that MSMEs have been supportive of the government programs focusing on sustainable livelihood such as the Shared Services Facilities (SSF) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Pangkabuhayan Program and Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program of the labor department.
The SSF, a major component of the MSME development program of the DTI, seeks to improve their competitiveness by providing them with machinery, equipment, tools, systems, skills and knowledge under a shared system.
The government agencies should have to look deeper into the situation of our people in the marginalized sector, told Goking.
“We have to empower them through providing sustainable livelihood that will give them economic empowerment and financial stability especially during these trying times,” he said.
He added that some lost their jobs and some businesses are closed as they suffered losses.
“It’s hard for small businesses to recover and those who have acquired loans could not pay and are suffering from having to pay interests, penalties and surcharges,” he said.
Providing livelihood is one way of helping people recover, according to him.
Goking is optimistic that through monitoring and coordination with other national agencies livelihood projects will be more fruitful and successful. (Ben Balce)
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