House cash, rice aid extended to Oriental Mindoro

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 7,000 residents of Oriental Mindoro received some P23 million in scholarship, farm and livelihood assistance from the programs formulated by the House of Representatives.

These programs are the Integrated Scholarships and Incentives Program (ISIP) for the Youth; the Start-up, Investment, Business Opportunity and Livelihood (SIBOL) and the Farmers Assistance for Recovery and Modernization (FARM).

The distribution coincided with the holding of the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair in Oriental Mindoro this weekend, which is expected to deliver an estimated P1.2 billion in government aid to residents of the province.

A total of 2,000 students in Oriental Mindoro received P2,000 financial assistance under the ISIP for the Youth program.

The listed beneficiaries will also be enrolled under the Commission on Higher Education’s Tulong Dunong Program. With this, they can get scholarship assistance of up to P15,000 per year.

The program targets students in the tertiary and vocational levels who are struggling with financial issues.

Under the program, the beneficiaries stand to receive cash assistance every six months, which they can use to cover tuition and other expenses.

Meanwhile, a total of 3,000 small entrepreneurs received P5,000 in financial aid under the SIBOL program, which will provide support not only to would-be entrepreneurs but also to existing small and micro businesses and to individuals who are seeking more employment opportunities.

For the FARM Program, 2,000 farmers received P2,000 worth of cash aid each in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro.

The program helps struggling rice farmers and aids in increasing the buffer stock of rice of the government.