To help lessen the effect of the COVID – 19 pandemic to the lives of the people, the Department of Social Welfare and Development through the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) implements Livelihood Assistance Grant (LAG) under the Social Amelioration Program, Emergency Subsidy Program (SAP – ESP) provided to families qualified as “low-income households”. Unlike the SAP-AICS which provided 5,500 Php to qualified low-income households, LAG shall be provided to assist in the economic recovery and rehabilitation of livelihoods of the affected families after the declaration of community quarantine is lifted.
One of the municipalities in the region provided with LAG assistance is Calayan, Cagayan. Since 2013, Calayan has been one of the recipients of the programs and projects of SLP. This year, Calayan was given a physical target of two hundred twenty two (222) eligible LAG beneficiaries.
On February 28, 2021, six (6) Project Development Officers from the Sustainable Livelihood Program travelled to Calayan to facilitate the LAG 2 pay-out of fifty six (56) beneficiaries amounting to five hundred eighty eight thousand pesos (P588,000.00). Also, the said PDOs facilitated the Cash for Building Livelihood Assistance pay-out to eighty two (82) beneficiaries amounting to one hundred eighty nine thousand and four hundred twenty pesos (P189,420.00). 
On March 1, 2021, the PDOs made a courtesy call to Mayor Joseph Llopis and MSWDO Learnie Miguel to discuss the LAG 2021 implementation. Thus, on March 2 to 7, 2021, the said PDOs conducted the LAG field validation to eleven (11) barangays to determine the eligibility of 222 target beneficiaries and assist in the feasibility of their proposed projects. With the assistance of the Local Government Unit of Calayan, their proposed individual livelihood projects shall be reviewed and process based on the guidelines set by the said program. With positive outlook in life, these beneficiaries’ livelihood shall succeed. Bringing not only food on the table, but a brighter future for the generations to come.
###written by Karen Mabasa