One hundred (100) sari-sari store owners on Saturday were given aid under former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and his allies’ Sari-Saring Pag-Asa program, bringing the total number of its beneficiaries to 4,001.
The micro-entrepreneurs received P3,500 each as additional capital for their existing sari-sari stores.
Sixty (60) of the beneficiaries came from Laguna, Cavite, and Batangas, while the remaining 40 were chosen among the sari-sari owners who commented on the program’s livestream on Facebook on October 2.
Lourdes Alhambra, one of the program’s beneficiaries from Quezon City, said she used the P3,500 to stock up on commonly bought items such as powdered drinks, toiletries, shampoo, and even vegetables.
Now her daily income has gone up from P500 to P1,200.
“Dati y’ung kinikita ko P500 lang kasi kung ano’ng hanapin nila minsan wala. Ngayon, nakabili ako ng tatlo, limang tray ng iba’t ibang [paninda],” she said.
(I used to earn only P500 because a lot of times my store wouldn’t have what my customers were looking for. But now, I am able to shop three to five trays of different items for my store.)
Alhambra said she is also now able to save P20 everyday as an emergency fund for her family.
“Kung mayr’on kayong mai-[invest] na puhunan, mag-tindahan din kayo na kahit sari-sari, kahit paunti-unti, ito nakakatulong din,” she encouraged fellow Filipinos.
(If you have a small amount that you can invest, I suggest you also put up your own store. It may be small but it definitely helps.)
Cayetano and his fellow members of the Balik sa Tamang Serbisyo (BTS) sa Kongreso organized the Sari-Saring Pag-Asa program to provide struggling sari-sari stores with capital to replenish their supplies amid the pandemic.
A known advocate of small to medium enterprise empowerment, Cayetano initiated the program to complement the Sampung Libong Pag-Asa program which provides select Filipino families with P10,000 in cash aid to help them with their basic needs and put up their own small businesses amid the pandemic.
