Painter Gets Aid from DSWD

Arnel Salvacion, 40, used to work in a construction company away from his family but when he became a partner-beneficiary of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) he now focuses on his craft as a painter and now spends more time with his wife and children.

Salvacion, a father of six shared that he now earns a living by selling his art works while his wife Berlina helps him through hog raising. He earns P5,000 a month during low season and it could go up to P20,000 when there are bulk orders.

Arnel also accepts painting jobs like murals and summer camp trainings.

The family used to live in a shanty but has now moved into a more decent house in Barangay Colonia, Tuburan, Cebu.

Three of his children are beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilya, the conditional cash transfer of the Philippine government that invests in the health and education of poor households.

The program provides P500 (high school) and P300 (elementary) per month as education grant. Another P500 is given every month provided that a grantee attends the monthly Family Development Session and goes to health center.

“Daku akong pasalamat nga naapil me sa Pantawid Pamilya ug SLP kay natabangan me sa pagpa-eskuwela sa mga anak ug natagaan pud me ug puhonan para makapalit ug mga gamit para sa akong mga paintings. Akong asawa kay natagaan pud ug puhonan para sa pagpamuhi ug baboy. (I’m very thankful that we were included in Pantawid Pamilya and SLP because it helped us in sending our children to school and provided us capital for my paintings and my wife’s hog raising).”

Arnel also disclosed that Armando, his eldest has availed of the SLP skills training in welding worth P20, 000. He recently finished the short term course and is now completing his documents for possible employment opportunities.

The Salvacion’s are among the 1,450 beneficiaries who availed themselves of the SLP this year in Central Visayas. He was among the 30 concessionaires who showcased their products during PaskuJuan last November 29 at Whitegold Club, Cebu.

SLP is a community-based capacity building program that seeks to improve the socio-economic status of program participants or the beneficiaries. It is implemented through two tracks: Micro-enterprise Development and Employment Facilitation.

The Micro-enterprise Development track supports micro-enterprises in becoming organizationally and economically viable, whereas the Employment Facilitation track assists participants to access appropriate employment opportunities.

Both tracks are executed based on the Community-Driven Enterprise Development (CDED) approach, which equips program participants to actively contribute to production and labor markets by looking at available resources and accessible markets.

From January 2011 to October 2015, SLP served a total of 851,505 families wherein 87 percent or 740,665 are Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries and 13 percent or 110,840 are non-Pantawid Pamilya assessed as poor through the Listahanan or data base of poor families. (Phoebe Jen Indino- Pantawid Pamilya Information Officer)