Each Odette-hit province to receive P20 million in livelihood aid —DTI

Provinces affected by Typhoon Odette will receive livelihood assistance from the Department of Trade and Industry, Secretary Ramon Lopez said Monday night.

In President Rodrigo Duterte's weekly Talk to the People briefing, Lopez said they plan to give P8,000 to P10,000 in livelihood assistance to 2,000 mivro entrepreneur beneficiaries per province affected by Odette.

"On the part of DTI, 'yong moving forward po sa amin 'yong pagbigay ng kabuhayan. In all our visits, nag-assess po kami ng mga kailangang tulungang mga micro SMEs," Lopez said.

(We assessed the micro businesses that needed help.)

"Ang estimate po namin magiging 2,000 ang beneficiary per probinsiya. Kung 2,000 'yan at bawat isa ang programa natin ay P8,000 to P10,000 kada micro entrepreneur para mabigyan ng pangkabuhayan package," he added.

(Our estimate is about 2,000 beneficiaries per province. Our program allocates P8,000 to 10,000 per micro entrepreneur.)

Lopez said each province will be allocated P20 million.

"So total po, P100 to P150 million ang ating magiging initial assistance," he said.

(Our initial assistance will total P100 to P150 million.)

For now, he said, the DTI already has P8.2 million that will be allocated to 300 profiled micro, small, and medium enterprises affected in Siargao.

He added that this week, the DTI will also distribute the livelihood aid to 1,000 beneficiaries in Regions 6, 7, 8, and Caraga.

"Pangsimula pa lang 'to pero sabi ko mag-a-allocate tayo ng P100 to P150 million. Magsimula muna sa P8 million para this week may mabigyan na," he said.

Lopez also said the SB Corporation will get P500 million for microfinancing to help affected MSMEs.

A total of 1,074, 169 families or 4,204,601 people were affected by the typhoon in MIMAROPA, CARAGA, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Regions, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said. — BM, GMA News