Lavezares Women Entrepreneurs

Awarded with the Seal of Good Governance, the Municipality of Lavezares in Northern Samar, is a 4^th class municipality.  It is rich in natural resources – its undulating hills planted to coconuts; the coastal waters protected by natural breakwaters, or bacolods, serve as lush fishing grounds for the local fisherfolk; and the few flat lands are suitable for irrigated rice, fruit trees, and crops.  Ecotourism is becoming popular because of the fine, white sand beaches in its coastal and groups of island barangays, and the coral reefs are good for scuba diving.

Yet, despite this progressive picture, there is perceived poverty of many townspeople, which is why the municipality was selected as beneficiary of the SAAD Program in 2016.  One community resident is Marivic Tomada, President of the Rural Improvement Club (RIC) of Brgy. Libas, who is a beneficiary of the swine fattening project.  She, together with 34 other women members of the group, received 3 piglets, 4.5 bags Pigrolac starter feeds, and 2.5 bags growing mass as starting capital for a viable backyard hog–raising venture.

Before SAAD Program was launched, Marivic and her fellow housewives were engaged in selling kakanin and whatever livelihood they could take on.  However, the income they derived from various endeavors was simply not enough to support their families.  Much to their relief, when the program materialized, they have something to hope for that could augment their small, gainful undertakings.

They immediately revived the RIC, an organization registered with DOLE on May 25, 2014.  Monthly dues were again collected, and raffle draws held to support its lending program.  They also have regular meetings to update members on the status of each household beneficiary and plans to sustain the project.  Recently, they were able to establish an office where members converge for their periodic activities.  Also, they intend to discuss plans on what to do with the swine upon maturity.  Each beneficiary was then advised by the SAAD Program monitoring team to observe proper waste disposal, especially those living near a river/waterway.

These women are optimistic that with this livelihood assistance, they will be able to expand or multiply swine production or sell/market the pigs with some value-added products, such as longganisa, tocino, or lechon.  This way they are assured of sustainable development, which is a requisite of the program’s poverty alleviation goal.  (MICHAEL F. DABUET, SAAD Staff, FRANCISCO C. ROSAROSO, Chief, RAFIS)