Christmas shoppers feast over unique gift items in last Sunday’s PaskuJuan Holiday Bazaar at the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral Grounds, Tuguegarao City.

PaskuJuan is a nationwide holiday bazaar where Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries who are likewise program participants of DSWD’s Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) showcase their products to consumers.

“PaskuJuan Bazaar is not only our means of heralding the success of our beneficiaries but also our way of helping them market their products to the public,” DSWD Field Office 02 OIC Regional Director Ponciana P. Condoy said.

“Likewise, this bazaar is a great venue to link them to their future clients,” she added.

Some of the products patronized by the consumers were bags and baskets made of Ananat leaves from Aparri, Cagayan, fossilized flowers and other décor from Province of Quirino, Isabela’s delicacies and clay pots and organic vegetables and other root crops from Nueva Vizcaya.

With the tremendous success of the launching of PaskuJuan last year, the Department deemed it to be a yearly activity, with this year’s theme, “Sama-sama sa Landas ng Pag-unlad.”

Earn while you learn

The bountiful harvest and livelihood of the beneficiaries was made possible with the capital assistance and training provided by DSWD through Sustainable Livelihood Program ( SLP).

“Nagpapasalamt po ako sa aming mga natutunan sa pamamagitan ng SLP at lalong-lao na sa pagkakaroon ko ng mapagkakakitaan para sa aking pamilya. Malaking tulong po itong PaskuJuan dahil mas malaki ang kinita namin sa araw na ito (I am thankful for the skills and trainings imparted by SLP, most specially for the opportunity to earn for my family’s needs. This PaskuJuan is of great help since we generated more sales today compared to a regular day),” shared Florante Villasanta, Pantawid Pamilya beneficiary from Aparri, Cagayan, who sold products made from weaved Ananat leaves.

SLP is a community-based capacity building program that seeks to improve the socio-economic status of the beneficiaries. It is implemented through the Community- Driven Enterprise Development (CDED) approach, which engages beneficiaries to actively contribute to production and labor markets by making use of available resources and accessible markets.### GELA FLOR R. PEREZ, Regional Information Officer II