Butuan City empowers minimum wage earners through P3.7M livelihood program
By Mariesh F. CeledeΓ±a
BUTUAN CITY (PIA) — Over 250 minimum wage earners and households below the poverty threshold have benefited from the Sustainable Market and Technology Driven Livelihood and Employment Assistance Program (SMART LEAP) of the city government of Butuan.
Launched on October 23, 2024, the program is an initiative of the City Social Welfare and Development Department (CSWDD) that helps the economically active poor households appropriate income-generating opportunities, either through microenterprise development or employment, to enhance their level of economic sufficiency.
Allowing the beneficiaries to establish and strengthen their existing microenterprises, thereby decreasing government support dependency.
According to Maria Therese Vargas, social welfare officer I of CSWDD, “Through an agreement, the office releases a P15,000 amount of financial assistance in an interest-free loan form to the beneficiaries for their small business. In return, the beneficiaries will pay P625 monthly for 2 years until the whole amount is settled.”
“The city government released more than P3.7 million pesos for the program,” Vargas said, adding, “Under the program, the beneficiaries undergo capability-building seminars and training such as financial management and literacy, basic bookkeeping, and others to equip them with the skills necessary to sustain and manage their business.”
To ensure the program implementation, CSWDD religiously monitors the beneficiaries through the conduct of case management, conducting interviews on the challenges and current progress. This allows the department to provide timely and appropriate support.
In his first 100 days in office, City Mayor Lawrence Lemuel H. Fortun shared that 63 percent of the released funds for the first batch of SMART LEAP was already paid by the beneficiaries, underscoring this performance as a testament of the effective implementation and its positive impact.
Meanwhile, CSWDD is now working for the batch 2 implementation of the program with 255 target beneficiaries. The firm implementation of the initiative reflects the city government’s commitment to building self-reliant communities by turning small opportunities into sustainable livelihood. (MFC, PIA Caraga)
