by Gigi Dumallig
TABUK CITY, Kalinga, Sept. 1 (PIA) -- Having seen its advantages and effectiveness in helping several individuals in the community, the city government here has sustained its local fund support to the Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K) Program.
Tabuk City Assistant Social Welfare and Development Officer (CSWDO) Estefania Baglinit related that under the program, the city government has already released a total fund of P569,000.00 to six SEA-K Associations (SKAs) this year.
The said SKA recipients are the Tuppaya Mixed Group SKA, whose 25 members received a P125,000.00 livelihood assistance last April 18 ; Survivor SKA with 15 members which received P75,000.00 assistance on June 20; and the SADIRI SKA with 20 members which was given P80,000.00 on June 21.
Last month, the city government has also released P125,000.00 for the Macaado SKA, P100,000.00 for the Rang-ay SKA and P64,000.00 to the Gomgom-o SKA.
According to Baglinit, SEA-K point person of the CSWDO, said the fund were given as soft loan payable in a year. Member borrowers are required to pay in a monthly scheme directly to the organization’s savings account.
Each group, she said, is mandated to maintain a P50% monthly savings in their account and retain at least a 10% operational fund. From the savings account, the group will pay in lump sum their loan to the city government in a year.
“We are encouraging the immediate payment of all loans in a year to also provide other SKAs the chance to be assisted and improve their economic conditions,” she said.
According to Baglinit, at least 17 groups have submitted their proposals for funding from the city government this year. The city government, she said, had been allocating local fund for the program since 2001.
“The city has also proposed for P1,750,000.00 from the DSWD SEA-K National Program to fund the livelihood programs of seven SKA groups in the city,” she said.
Baglinit also disclosed that the city government has designed a policy to ensure the success of each SKA being assisted .Unlike the national SEA-K scheme where beneficiaries are immediately provided the financial assistance just after the social preparations and capability building training, the CSWDO has opted to give each SKA group time to learn and prove they could manage on their own before the financial assistance is released.
The CSWDO would provide the social preparation trainings after which the group will have to source out on their own their livelihood projects and apply what they learn from the training, she said.
This would determine which SKA is capable of running its own organization and as an off shoot, ensures the sustainability and effectiveness of the city’s livelihood program.
“Those who will be able to show good management and improvement in their livelihood projects will be eligible for the SEA-K livelihood credit assistance from city government,” she said.
As a national anti-poverty program, the SEA-K was designed as a capability building program to enhance the socio-economic skills of poor families towards establishing and managing sustainable community-based credit organizations for entrepreneurial development. *(JDP/GGD- PIA CAR,Kalinga)
