The city government earmarked P5 million counterpart fund to assist displaced vendors heavily impacted by the community quarantine.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong said the city government’s counterpart to the P5M committed to him by Labor Sec. Silvestre Bello III will be used as seed money to assist the vendors, especially those at the city parks, who lost their sources of livelihood during the pandemic.
One of the conditions in the grant of the livelihood assistance is for the vendor beneficiaries to organize themselves into a cooperative through which the grant will be coursed for them to resume their economic activities.
Magalong said vending in the city’s parks will be strictly regulated and will only be done in the uniform kiosks to be constructed in strategic areas.
He said the social preparation for the organization of the displaced vendors into a cooperative is being spearheaded by the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) to provide the group a juridical personality.
During recent meetings conducted by the CSWDO, vendors who lost their sources of livelihood have expressed their support to the initiatives of the city government in organizing them into a cooperative.
Under the city’s livelihood assistance program, financial aids will be extended to organized groups to help them recover from the economic slump caused by the implementation of lockdowns. – PIO release
