Rebel Returnee Turned to DOLE-Bicol For New Life He pulled out the gun on his side and started firing at army troops patrolling the area. For every bullet exiting his gun, his every hope for a better future fades away. This was a realization from Mariano Llamoso, who joined the communist group five years ago. While he fought for what his group believed as the “freedom for the oppressed”, his family suffered in abject poverty. He too had to fight, consciously and subconsciously, the cold lonely nights caused by being far from his family and the turmoil of a possible encounter with military troops anytime. With these in thoughts, he clinched his hands trying hard not to lose grip of his gun. As tears rolled down his cheeks, he was convinced to turn his back from his rebellious beliefs. As he was enlightened, Mariano responded to the “Balik-Loob” call of the government to surrender and once again live a simple, ordinary and peaceful life. However, being a former rebel trying to start life over again wasn’t that easy and simple. Mariano has to overcome the stigma f social rejection. His life seemed to have been harder than before. People do not trust him anymore. He had to plea for work from his neighbors in exchange for any minimal amount of wage. It was hardly enough to feed his family and too little to send his six children to school. This dilemma, drove his faithful-understanding wife to venture in food processing to help augment his meager income and trying to make both ends meet. They started preparing snacks and other “delicacies” and displayed it in a small wooden flat form in-front of their house in Brgy. Bagasbas, Daet, Camarines Norte. During the influx of tourists at the Bagasbas Beach, the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Daet, through its PESO Office thought of establishing a possible livelihood project for food vendors to increase their income and make it more sustainable. LGU Daet then entered into a convergent partnership with DOLE-Bicol as an Accredited Co-Partner (ACP) for the sole purpose of accessing DOLE’s livelihood funds for distribution particularly to the LGU’s newly organized group, the Bagasbas Food Vendors Association, wherein the family of Mariano is a member. LGU Daet the requested funding assistance for the Negosyo Sa Kariton (Nego-Kart) Project of DOLE-5 to uplift the status of ambulant food vendors operating at the Bagasbas beach. Luckily, the twenty members of the said Association including Mariano were selected as recipients of the said project. Mariano, as a beneficiary, received a total of Fifteen Thousand Pesos (P15,000.000) worth of livelihood assistance consisting of vending cart or “Kariton”, cooking tools and raw materials. This, Marinao said, was enough to continue his Barbeque and Gulaman Stand. Aside from this, LGU Daet provided its 20% percent counterpart which included the provision of capability building and skills training relative to the business he chose and payment of Philhealth premiums. “Parang totoo yung paggulong ng pera sa aming negosyong ito. Hindi ako makapaniwala at labis ang aming kagalakan na napagkalooban kami ng ganitong uri ng hanapbuhay. Kung noon na sa bawat pagkalabit ng baril ay buhay ang mabubuwis, ngayon sa bawat pagtulak ng kariton, buhay ay madudugtungan.” Mariano admitted. For nearly two years of its operation, Mariano’s family has enjoyed the blessings of new and better life brought by DOLE’s Nego-Kart Project. According to his wife Teresita, at present, their take home income is far better than before. “Noon kumikita lang kami ng di-tataas sa P100-P150 kada araw, subalit mula ng maipagkaloob sa amin ang biyayang ito, hndi naming akalaing sa mga ordinaryong araw kami ay maguuwi ng hindi kukulangin sa P250-P300 pesos kada araw. Tuwing summer na maraming turista hindi ninyo aakalaing tumutubo kami ng hanggang P600-P800 kada araw, at me pang-ulam pang mauuwi sa bahay.” The project have become a productive business for Mariano’s family. His four children, after arriving from school, would come to assist their parents. They became workers of their own business, earning extra money on top of their daily allowance in school. With his wife beside him, he said in joyful tears: “Napakabuti ng ating pamahalaan sa pagbibigay ng panibagong pag-asa sa mga katulad kong rebel returnee, nasa kabila ng pagtataksil sa bayan ay binigyan pa rin ako ng pagkakataong makapag balik-loob, magpanibagong-buhay at maging kapaki-pakinabang na mamamayan.” –fin (story by Renalyn Enriquez, DOLE Cam. Norte). rpescalante091713
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 01:41:43 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015