COTABATO CITY— Through the Office of the Chief Minister’s Project TABANG or the ‘Tulong Alay sa Bangsamorong Nangangailangan’, some 333 indigents from this city and from Maguindanao each received Php15,000 cash assistance on Tuesday, Sept. 20.
Among the beneficiaries were senior citizens, persons with disabilities, asatidz (Arabic teachers), and indigenous people.
Project Manager Tomanda Antok said that the assistance were funded through the TABANG’s subcomponent program dubbed PAG-ASA or the ‘Pag-akay at Suporta’ which provides a one-time Php15,000 cash assistance to indigent Bangsamoro residents who are at risk of not earning a regular income because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Maliit na bagay ito pero kusang loob na binibigay ng ating Chief Minister (Ahod Ebrahim) na dinaan niya sa project TABANG para po sa kanyang commitment na ilapit ang gobyerno sa kanyang mga kababayan,” Antok said.
This is the third time Project TABANG conducted a payout for its PAG-ASA program. [Read related story: BARMM releases 15k cash aid to 333 indigent residents]
Food vendor Connie Caños, 51, said she will use the money she received as an additional income.
“Nagluluto ako ng mga ulam, gulay, mga kakanin, gumagawa din ako minsan ng ice candy, kahit ano na basta pwedeng maperahan,” Caños shared.
She mentioned that when there are less customers, she only earns a minimum of 300 per day.
“Maraming salamat sa TABANG livelihood program ng Bangsamoro Government,” said Caños who is a Teduray from Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao.
Project TABANG’s livelihood program head Mohammad Asnur Pendatun, and representatives from the OCM’s Cash Division and Commission of Audit (COA) were also present during Tuesday’s event. (Myrna Tepadan/BIO)
