Community leaders in Mandaluyong, Marikina, and Valenzuela expressed their gratitude for the Sari-Saring Pag-Asa financial assistance program for microentrepreneurs spearheaded by former House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, saying the initiative was a “heartfelt action” that brought hope back to their neighborhoods.
On Saturday, September 11, 2021 around 60 small business owners from the cities of Mandaluyong, Marikina, and Valenzuela each received P3,500 via Sari-Saring Pag-Asa. An additional 40 beneficiaries were also selected online.
The program has provided cash aid to more than 2,500 business owners across the country since its inception earlier this year.
Village councilor Elvis Salvo of Bagong Silang in Mandaluyong said the cash aid that his constituents received through Sari-Saring Pag-Asa would go a long way in helping small business owners in his barangay to regain their footing.
“Malaking bagay na yung mga tindahan ay maabutan natin ng konting tulong. Alam mo naman yung tao, basta nandiyan yung pag-alalay sa kanila, nararamdaman nila ‘no,” Salvo said.
(It’s already a big thing for us to be able to extend help for our small businesses. You know how people are, as long as they see the help you give them, they feel it.)
He added that the initiative was as simple as it was sincere.
“Simple lang (yung programa) pero tagos po sa puso yung pagtulong.”
(The program is simple but the assistance is really heartfelt.)
Village captain Ziffred Ancheta of Tumana in Marikina echoed Salvo’s sentiments, saying Cayetano’s financial aid programs for small businesses and families hit hard by the pandemic are great initiatives.
“(Ang Sari-Saring Pag-Asa) ay tagos sa puso ng bawat barangayan, dama sa sulok ng damdamin, dama ang sulok ng pangangailangan sa mga barangayan,” Ancheta said.
(Everyone in our neighborhood sees Sari-Saring Pag-Asa as heartfelt, they really feel it, because it touches on the real needs of the community.)
Ancheta also pointed out the immediacy and directness of Cayetano’s private-initiative cash aid program, adding that it was unlike other state-sponsored programs in which beneficiaries often get lost in red tape before they receive any benefit.
“Isang bagay na nagustuhan ko sa programa po ni Speaker Alan Cayetano, hindi na niya pinahihirapan ang mga mahirap ‘no,” he said.
(One thing I really like about Speaker Alan Cayetano’s program is that he doesn’t make the process hard for poor people.)
For Graciano Victorino, leader of Bignay district in Valenzuela, Sari-Saring Pag-Asa has inspired a great sense of gratefulness among his staff and the residents of his community.
“Sa akin pong mga kabarangay ay talagang napakalaking katulungan po yan na sa buong Pilipinas ay napili po ang Barangay Bignay para mabiyayaan ng pandagdag puhunan o kapital ng mga may sari-sari store dito po,” Victorino said.
(This is of great help to our community, that out of everyone in the Philippines, Bignay was chosen for the distribution of additional capital for our sari-sari stores here.)
Captain Victorino ended his remarks with a small request for Sari-Saring Pag-Asa to again choose their community for assistance in the future.
“Sana po balik-balikan (ng Sari-Saring Pag-Asa) kaming mga taga-Bignay, kasi napakarami pa hong higit na nangangailangan (ng tulong) dito,” he said.
(We hope Sari-Saring Pag-Asa would circle back to us here in Bignay, as there really are a lot of people in need of assistance here.)
