NAPC, PAGCOR turns over P1.5M livelihood support to Calbayog City

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY -- The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) and the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) turned over P1.5 million cheque to Calbayog City for the implementation of its various livelihood support programs to uplift lives of fisherfolks in the area.

According to NAPC that Calbayog City is among the seven priority areas for the implementation of the Poverty Reduction Through Rural Development (PRRD) project under the PAGCOR-NAPC grant.  The others are Majayjay, Laguna; Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya; Cebu City; Talipao, Sulu; Valladolid, Negros Occidental; and Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte.

The total project cost includes P500,000 for the construction of physical infrastructure and procurement of equipment; one million pesos for hauling support and vehicle provision; and P1.5 million capital infusion for livelihood projects.

The amount also represents half of the P3-million commitment of PAGCOR for the Integrated Community- Based Agricultural Production and Processing Facility.  After a year of operations, the whole project shall be turned over to the communities through the local government unit (LGU), NAPC said.

“We hope that this project, through the city government of Calbayog, will help the beneficiaries face the challenges brought about by the pandemic,” NAPC secretary Noel Felongco said during the turnover ceremony on March 8 with Calbayog City mayor Ronaldo Aquino.

Felongco said that the undertaking falls under the NAPC’s Sambayanihan: Serbisyong Sambayanan, a five-year guiding framework that encapsulates the government’s current thrust and direction to overcome poverty.

Meanwhile, NAPC with five LGUs inked memorandum of agreements on March 8 with LGUs Asturias and Tuburan, with LGU Carmen on March 11 and with LGU Southern Leyte on March 12 to fortify poverty reduction efforts in the Visayas.

The Memorandums of Agreement (MOAs) were signed between NAPC Secretary and Lead Convenor Atty. Noel Felongco and Mayor Jose Antonio Pintor of Asturias, Cebu; Mayor Danny Diamente of Tuburan, Cebu; Mayor Carlo Villamor of Carmen, Cebu; Mayor Jane Ruales of Bontoc, Southern Leyte; and Mayor Rustico Estrella, Sr.  of Pintuyan, Southern Leyte.

Under the agreement, NAPC will provide the LGUs with policy guidelines and direction to ensure proper implementation of the Sambayanihan: Serbisyong Sambayanan framework and the Ka- Sambayanihan Volunteers Program.

The LGUs on the other hand provide logistical and administrative assistance to NAPC such as office space and utilities as well as support the formation of the Provincial Consultative Body, among other things.