Socorro, Oriental Mindoro – On November 22, 2018, the Municipality of Socorro, Oriental Mindoro held its 7^th cycle of Convergence Initiative ‘Bote for Life’ spearheaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development Municipal Action Team – Socorro.

The initiative is a fund-raising activity, which aims to provide Pantawid beneficiaries with free Social Insurance coverage in partnership with Palawan Pawnshop.

According to the 2015 Social Welfare Development Indicator (SWDI) survey, a total of 1,162 program partner households are still non-member of any insurance companies, which put their members in financial risks in times of unexpected incidents.

Since September 2017, all beneficiaries of the municipality of Socorro are required to bring 5 clean empty bottles every conduct of offsite payout, which is collected in a single venue operated by the Pantawid staff. The bottles are then collected in sacks and then sold to a partner junkshop to generate funds out of it. The amount collected would then be used as registration fees of program partner beneficiaries to the Palawan Pawnshop Social Insurance plan 100, which covers benefits for accidental, death, education, and health of five active members of the household for one whole year. Looking at it in a larger perspective, the family’s financial security and safety is ensured in exchange of five reusable bottles brought bi-monthly.

As of Cycle 6, a sum of 578 households have benefited from the ‘Bote for Life’ project, and the DSWD Municipal Action Team is currently on the process of adding more of beneficiaries on the list of ensured families for a more secured future, financial wise. ###

 

Submitted by: Eris James M. Faderogao