Some 90 public market vendors who were affected by the fire incident in Iriga City received cash relief aid from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), an agency official said on Tuesday (February 6).

DSWD Asst. Secretary for Strategic Communications Romel Lopez said that upon learning of the fire incident at a public market, the DSWD’s Field Office-5 (Bicol Region) immediately coordinated with the Iriga City local government to provide immediate aid to the affected stall owners.

“We swiftly communicated with the local officials of Iriga City so we can extend cash aid to the fire-affected vendors,” Asst. Sec. Lopez, who is also the DSWD spokesperson, said.

Asst. Sec. Lopez said each stall owner received on Monday (February 5) Php10,000 in cash aid from the agency, through the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) Program.

“The identified vendors were tent stall owners who were greatly affected by the fire past midnight on Feb. 2,” the DSWD spokesperson noted.

The DSWD Bicol also distributed 228 family food packs (FFPs) and essential non-food items worth more than Php193,000 to assist those impacted by the fire incident, according to Asst. Sec. Lopez.

“On top of these initial responses, our Field Office is also set to provide livelihood assistance for their early recovery and rehabilitation of the affected market vendors,” the DSWD spokesperson further said.

Asst. Sec. Lopez emphasized that the DSWD will also assess the affected vendors so they can be granted with a start-up capital ranging from Php10,000 to Php20,000 through the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).

“The SLP payout will soon be scheduled to complete the set of assistance to the fire victims,” Asst. Sec. Lopez said.

Marilou Borazon, one of the affected vendors, expressed her gratitude to the DSWD: “Labis po akong nagpapasalamat sa DSWD sa naibigay nilang tulong para sa aming mga maliit na tindero dito sa syudad ng Iriga. Isang malaking tulong po ito lalo upang mas mapabilis po ang aming pagrecover ng aming kabuhayan”.

(I am deeply grateful to the DSWD for the assistance they provided to us small-scale vendors here in the city of Iriga. This is a big help, especially in speeding up the recovery of our livelihood.)

The payout of the cash aid to the affected individuals was spearheaded by DSWD Bicol Regional Director Norman S. Laurio, Iriga City Mayor Wilfredo “Rex” Oliva, City Social Welfare and Development Officer Maridel Verrosa, and DSWD Camarines Sur Provincial Team Leader Marian Monsalve.

Mayor Oliva expressed gratitude to the DSWD for its continuous effort in helping his constituents to have a new start in their source of livelihood.

Based on the report of DSWD’s Bicol Field Office, the affected vendors are temporarily housed at the Barangay San Francisco evacuation center and at the Early Childhood Care Development Center. #