(ISABELA-PIO)----Secretary Silvestre “Bebot” Bello III of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) led the awarding of the Nego-Kart Project to marginalized Isabeleños yesterday, January 16, 2021, at the Isabela Sports Complex.
He was joined by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Gov. Rodito T. Albano III, Vice Governor Faustino Dy III, LPGMA Partylist representative Allan Ty, DOLE Regional Director Atty. Evelyn Ramos, and mayors of Isabela.
A total of one hundred (100) ambulant vendor-beneficiaries from different municipalities of Isabela each received a vending cart with a start-up capital of twenty thousand (P20,000) pesos that can be utilized for selling street foods like siomai, isaw, fishballs, squidballs, kikiam, and “kakanin,” or merienda foods. They will also receive one LPG from Cong. Allan Ty. The beneficiaries were duly profiled by DOLE Field Office to ensure that they meet the qualifications of the project.
Sec. Bello quoted President Rodrigo Duterte in one of his talks with him and Sec. Tugade “You are in the Cabinet, Art huwag mong pabayaan ang Cagayan. Bebot, sabi niya, huwag mong pabayaan ang Isabela.”
Sec. Bello encouraged the beneficiaries to manage their livelihood projects well and hopes that it will be transformed into sustainable businesses to improve their quality of life.
The Nego-Kart, a livelihood assistance sourced from the Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program, is one of the flagship programs of DOLE that aims to provide decent and sustainable livelihood to benefit and empower marginalized workers.
