COTABATO CITY— Through the Bangsamoro Sagip Kabuhayan (BSK) program of the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD), eight (8) blind massage therapists were each granted with Php15,000.00 financial assistance on Thursday, Aug. 18.
It was BARMM Cabinet Secretary Mohd Asnin Pendatun who referred the beneficiaries to the ministry. They were then validated by MSSD’s Older Persons and Persons with Disability Welfare Program (OPPWDWP).
“Nagpapasalamat tayo kay Allah na binigyan niya tayo ng paran upang kami dito sa BARMM ay makapaghatid ng tulong sa mamamayan,” Pendatun said in vernacular.
“At nagpapasalamat din tayo sa MSSD dahil na-facilitate ng maayos ‘yung request natin na assistance para sa inyo,” he told the beneficiaries.
BSK program intends to alleviate the living conditions of Bangsamoros who are adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, through the provision of seed capital or additional capital to start up their businesses.
Four (4) of the beneficiaries were men while another 4 were women. They are residents of Cotabato City, Maguindanao, and Special Geographic Area (SGA).
The beneficiaries are planning to combine the financial assistance they received so they can set up their own massage clinic.
“Itong Php15,000 although maliit pero kapag inipon ninyo ay mayroon na kayong 120,000 para po maiayos at maipatayo ang inyong clinic,” said MSSD Minister Atty. Raissa Jajurie.
“In shaa Allah marami po kayong magiging customer, at sana po ay mapandar ninyo ng mabuti,” Jajurie added.
One of the beneficiaries Akmad Dimanalao, 50, thanked the Bangsamoro Government for extending their assistance to PWDs like them.
“Maraming maraming salamat, higit sa lahat sa Allah kasi nabibigyan pa rin ng pansin ang mga katulad naming mga bulag. Alhamdulillah nandiyan kayo (BARMM) na nagiging daan para matulungan kami,” Akmad said in vernacular.
Akmad, residing in Barangay Limbo in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, earned his National Competency (NC II) certificate as a massage therapist in 2003 through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). (Myrna Tepadan/BIO)
