Today, January 22, an agreement was forged among the SERDEF, Bahaghari Handicraft, the Deparment of Labor and Employment – National Capital Region, and the Public Employment Service Offices (PESOS) of the city governments of Marikina and Taguig to provide a livelihood program for survivors of Typhoon Yolanda who have evacuated from Leyte to Metro Manila.
The program will seek to organize and train selected evacuees who have temporarily settled in Marikina and Taguig to take part in the “Windcatcher Home-based Livelihood Project.” A small-scale economic activity, the project will provide incomes to the target beneficiaries for the duration of their interim relocation in the metropolis, thus contributing to the post-Yolanda rehabilitation efforts.
The windcatcher is a novelty decorative product made from the ingenious arrangement of bamboo toothpick clusters. It was developed by Bahaghari Handicraft, a firm with many years of experience in the manufacture and distribution of craft items for both the local and export markets.
The products will also be marketed through the Bahaghari distribution network. The company will train beneficiaries in the production of the items, provide raw materials, pay the workers on a piece-rate basis, and do the finishing touches.
The beneficiaries will be selected by the Marikina and Taguig PESO offices from among evacuees residing in their respective areas. The offices will also take charge of supervising and monitoring the beneficiaries and establish a collection mechanism for the finished products, including the designation of a collection hub and payroll center.
The DOLE-NCR will lead in the promotion of the product through multi-media exposure. Through the PAPAMAMARISAN and MUNTAPARLAS field offices, it will also monitor the implementation of the project and ensure its sustainability.
For its part, SERDEF will provide Bahaghari Handicrafts with management counseling and other business development services and in the promotion of the project and its products through its SERDEF Media Bureau.
Signing the terms of reference were Josefino Navarro for Bahaghari, President Paterno Viloria for SERDEF, Regional Director Alex Avila for DOLE-NCR, Gildegardo Munar for PESO Marikina, and Norman Mirabel for PESO Taguig.
SERDEF Trustee Herminia Fajardo presented the background of the project during the briefing presided over by SERDEF Trustee and Technical Adviser Serenidad Lavador.
