By: Social Marketing

  The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the National Housing Authority (NHA) strengthened their partnership and signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to support the implementation of the Cash for Building Livelihood Assets (CBLA) Project. The MOA for the CBLA Project, signed on April 7 by DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman and NHA General Manager Chito Cruz, aims to give opportunities for qualified housing beneficiaries in selected resettlement sites to avail of short-term employment to augment their daily income and to be able to update their housing amortization arrearages. The MOA signing ceremony was witnessed by 3rd District of Negros Occidental Congressman Alfredo “Albee” B. Benitez, Chairman of the Committee on Housing and Urban Development, who pushed for the implementation of this pilot project. Under the agreement, the DSWD allocated P79,176,528 from its Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) fund to cover payment of services for some 2,763 selected resettled families in NHA sites located in Northville 1, Kasarival in Valenzuela City; San Jose del Monte Heights in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan; and Southville 8 Resettlement Site in Rodriguez, Rizal.   The CBLA project will run for one year starting this May 2015 up to April 2016. From the 2,763 beneficiaries, four batches will be organized. Members of each batch will work for 24 days per month for three months. They will be paid based on the regional minimum wage for the area.  Part of their income will defray their housing arrearages and provide additional income to support their basic needs. DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said that addressing the housing needs of the poor should be complemented by livelihood, income, and employment opportunities. The CBLA Project is a capacity building strategy to increase the employability chances of the beneficiaries and increase natural resource building to be used for livelihood. Specifically, the CBLA Project supports the establishment of micro-enterprise development and employment generation such as jobs dealing with solid waste management, urban gardening, and slope planting protection. ### Source: DSWD Central Office