More than 3,100 sari-sari store owners have already found new hope by former House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s Sari-saring Pag-asa initiative which gives P3,5000 in cash aid to beneficiaries that they can invest in their neighborhood stores.
Joining the 3,000-strong list of beneficiaries were 45 sari-sari store owners selected for the September 23, 2021 episode from Muntinlupa, Quezon City, and Taguig-Pateros.
Another 30 beneficiaries were selected from Facebook commenters across the country.
The episode also announced that beneficiaries will also now receive a sari-sari store logbook to help them track their expenses and sales. Financial tools like logbooks and business know-how are crucial to the success of small businesses, which is why the program advocates for their chosen winners to be educated in money management.
Featured in Thursday’s episode was the story of Lhenie Torres, a sari-sari store owner from Hagonoy, Bulacan who was able to revive her struggling business through the Sari-saring Pag-asa program.
“Malaking tulong po sa akin ang P3,500 dahil mas lalong nadagdagan ang kita ko sa araw-araw na pantustos ko din po sa aking pamilya at sa aking dalawang anak,” Torres said.
(The P3,500 was a big help to me because it let me increase my daily income and allowed me to better provide for my family and two children.)
SSP is a partner program to the Sampung Libong Pag-asa initiative which gives P10,000 cash assistance to needy Filipinos.
The two programs aim to help Filipinos recover from the devastating economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by injecting capital into communities.
Beneficiaries of the programs have gone on to rebuild their businesses, put up new sources of livelihood, and help their families.
