AID DISTRIBUTION | President Ferdinandn Marcos Jr. leads a situation briefing on the oil spill and distribution of various assistance to at least 1,200 beneficiaries in Pola, Oriental Mindoro, on Saturday, April 15, 2023. (Photo from Philippine News Agency)
MANILA, Philippines — Nearly 1,000 families in oil spill-stricken Pola, Oriental Mindoro province, received financial aid and livelihood grants from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. promised to “stay on top of the situation” until they have recovered from the crisis.
Marcos himself, along with Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian, led the distribution of cash aid to Pola fisherfolk during his visit there on April 15, nearly two months after the tanker MV Princess Empress, carrying 800,000 liters of industrial oil, sank off Naujan and Pola towns and started leaking into the open sea.
Since then, fisherfolk in Mindoro, Palawan, Antique, and Batangas have been struggling to make both ends meet, especially amid an ongoing fishing ban in the affected waters.
However, Marcos assured the fisherfolk that they “could rest assured that the national government is here to help you get through this situation and we will continue to assist you until you are able to recover from the effects of the oil spill.”
P20,000 each family
He added that he had directed all concerned agencies to ensure that long-term plans were in place to help their recovery.
According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the families each received P20,054 to help them cope with the effects of the oil spill on their livelihood.
The cash assistance came from the Emergency Cash Transfers (ECT) and food and cash assistance and other support services under the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS).
Meanwhile, 391 people also received livelihood grants worth P10.3 million from the Department of Labor and Employment’s Integrated Livelihood Program.
Livelihood kits
Other households also received P10,000 worth of livelihood kits under the Department of Trade and Industry and loan approvals for micro, small, and medium enterprises worth P5.3 million from state-owned Small Business Corp.
The DSWD’s cash grant is part of the humanitarian assistance, worth over P223 million given, to affected families in Batangas, Oriental Mindoro, Antique, and Palawan since the oil spill incident in February.
Apart from Pola, nearly 20,000 beneficiaries from Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, and Antique also received cash aid under the AICS and ECT program. In Batangas, the DSWD is offering cash-for-work programs for affected residents.