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| ILOCOS Norte Governor Imee R. Marcos together with Mr. Matthew Marcos-Manotoc and Ilocos Norte Vice Governor Angelo M. Barba leads the distribution of the Manang Imee's Nego-Kart Express in Marcos, Ilocos Norte. (Alaric A. Yanos) |
By John Michael Mugas
PGIN-CMO
After
receiving Manang Imee’s Nego-Kart Express, a
former overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Orlanda Pascual of Carasi, Ilocos Norte
saw the opportunity to expand her business ensuring that her decision to stay
in the province will still improve the living conditions of her family.
Ms. Pascual is one of the
recipients of the Manang Imee’s Nego-Kart Express, a program that hands out
proper vending cart, livelihood tools, starting capital and training for
ambulant vendors aiming to help them increase and sustain their income level in
the long-run.
Through the Provincial Public
Employment Service Office, the program started rolling out this year with the
orientation of the first 50 beneficiaries, most of them women, last January.
Ms. Pascual, who was an OFW
in the Middle East, endured more than 7 years of separation from her family as
she braved the challenges and loneliness of working in a foreign country in
search for greener pasture.
“Being an OFW greatly helped
me and my family especially that my three children were able to finish their
studies up to college,” she recounted.
Ms. Pascual noted, however,
that an OFW like her should be patient and resilient citing how these traits
are inherent to every Ilocano.
“While it is true that
working as an OFW makes you earn more compared to what you get in the country,
it is as if you go back to zero once you return to the country,” she added.
Ilocos Norte continues to
share the highest number of Overseas Filipinos in Region 1 at 51,396 in 2013
while estimated remittances from Ilocanos abroad reached PHP 5,386,000,000 in
2009, according to Commission of Filipinos Overseas.
From 1900s to 2009, Ilocanos
were compelled to leave the province to seek better opportunities due to job
scarcity in Ilocos Norte.
At the beginning of Ilocos
Norte Governor Maria Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos’ administration in 2010, she
focused in bringing in more employment opportunities for Ilocanos creating over
50,000 jobs compared to the 20,000 target set in 2012.
Admitting that she somehow
refused to come home fearing that there would be no jobs available for her in
the country, Ms. Pascual decided to invest her savings by building a small
bakery in their town.
But not long enough, the
bakery failed to thrive resulting to its unexpected closure. She followed it up
by putting up a piggery but she faced a lack of financial capital.
Drawing inspiration from her
family, she did not lose hope and persistently engaged in a new undertaking by
selling snacks around their town.
“This time around, I sell
quail eggs and banana cue among others and I deliver my products on-foot in the
municipal hall and schools in the town,” she recounted, adding that it is such
a strenuous physical labor but proved to be profitable.
With this, she took the
opportunity to avail the program and was enlisted to be a recipient of the
first 50 Nego-Karts which she received last March 10 during the Manang Imee’s
Capitol Express at Brgy. Loing, Piddig, Ilocos Norte.
Today, Ms. Pascual continues
selling with the support of the vending cart which enables her to be
efficiently transported from one location to another which results to an
increase of income. She was also able to sell more products with the additional
capital she received through the program.
“We are lucky to have
Governor Marcos who continuously leads the province with utmost concern to
Ilocanos especially for OFWs like me; she had given us the choice to adequately
improve the living condition of our families while staying in the province,” Pascual
beamed in Ilocano.
Beneficiaries of the Manang Imee's Nego-Kart Express receive the
starting capital to run their small and medium businesses from Governor Imee R.
Marcos. (Alaric A. Yanos)
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