BUTUAN CITY – At least 27,996 individuals in the Caraga Region received over PHP97.9 million in payments for community services they rendered for the past 10 months under the Risk Resiliency Program-Cash for Work-Cash for Training (RRP-CFW-CFT) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Rachel Molino, the focal person of the region’s RRP-CFW-CFT program, said most of the community work the beneficiaries had rendered from January to October involved reforestation, community farming and watershed rehabilitation works.
“Most of the livelihood of these beneficiaries were affected by Typhoon Odette,” Molino said in an interview on Tuesday, adding that the reforestation works were focused on the damaged forest areas and farmlands which were devastated by the past calamities that hit the region.
Data from DSWD-Caraga indicate that of the RRP-CFW-CFT beneficiaries in the region, 7,873 are from Agusan del Norte who received some PHP27.5 million payout; Agusan del Sur with 7,300 beneficiaries who got PHP25.5 million payout; and Dinagat Islands with 1,344 beneficiaries receiving PHP4.7 million payout.
In Surigao del Norte, 6,024 beneficiaries received PHP21 million in payments; while 5,455 beneficiaries in Surigao del Sur also got PHP19 million worth of payout.
Massive reforestation
DSWD-13 data also showed that in Agusan del Norte, the community services rendered by the beneficiaries involved the planting of 109,545 bamboo and fruit-bearing and non-fruit-bearing trees in 274 hectares of flood and landslide-prone areas, river basin, upland and watershed areas.
At least 57,000 mangroves were also planted in 10 hectares of storm surge and tsunami-prone coastal areas in the province.
In Agusan del Sur, 10,000 rubber tree seedlings, 10,000 cacao trees and 163,800 seedlings of endemic trees were planted in 383.3 hectares of landslide and flood-prone areas, while 50,000 banana suckers were also scattered in a separate 100 hectares of upland community farms.
Some 38,000 bamboo seedlings were also planted in a span of 114,000 linear meters of flood-prone lowland areas in Surigao del Norte, including the 20,360 fruit-bearing seedlings to 32.58 hectares of flood-prone areas, and the planting of 328,700 mangrove propagules in 32.87 hectares of coastal areas.
In Surigao del Sur, 49,950 seedlings from fruit-bearing and non-fruit-bearing trees were also planted in 124 hectares of landslide and flood-prone areas.
In Dinagat Islands, the beneficiaries were also involved in the propagation of 36,000 seedlings of indigenous trees, while a total of 12 hectares of watershed areas were also planted with 7,200 seedlings of indigenous trees. (PNA)
