The other day, the DSWD-CAR gave out awards to groups, local government units and organizations that have contributed in the implementation of its programs or projects in fulfillment of its mandate. Many of the awardees were municipalities and some private organizations such as the media outfits.
Some of the awards were the usual stuff we had been hearing year-in and year-out. These were for the proper implementation of the 4Ps supposedly to alleviate the condition of the very poor in our midst or projects that should improve communal life which should have been done with a strong community spirit as otherwise one of the purposes to develop the collective spirit would not be achieved– the main ingredient for their sustainability.
A number of those in attendance were surprised at some of the awards. What sort of tickled them pink were the one or two awards for micro and small projects that would sustainably provide employment in the hinterlands. We should have more of such awards. Majority of people out there are willing and able to work hard but there are just no jobs where to use or apply these.
And such awards were in the past not considered to be within the domain of the DSWD to give out. They were perhaps justified by the fact that employment directly affects the welfare of people. Nothing can be more demeaning to normal people with normal abilities than the lack of opportunities where these can be made use of and at the same time earn a living.
These were considered within the domain of agencies like the DTI, CITEM, etc., but it appears that a paradigm shift or in viewpoint had slowly emerged. Thus, even the DOST is now actively involved in promoting entrepreneurship. It is now lending capital for small or micro business expansion.
Well and good. Every government agency must promote the establishment of MSMEs in the rural areas for there is no argument that the Philippine economy’s backbone are such businesses.
But then again, this can only happen if the national government can allot more capital for these instead of using the bulk of the country’s financial resources to graft ridden infra projects. To drive home the point, the government has allotted P355 billion for a subway in Metro Manila but only P1 billion for lending to micro businesses all over the country.
It makes the aforesaid awards for micro and small employment projects without financial backing a big joke.**