Residents of VSagun flock to the VSagun CeC to claim their benefits from DSWD's Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)

A total of 2,171 families were able to access food and other local government benefits without travelling to other municipalities through the Vincenzo Sagun Community eCenter.

“When we started the project of cash distribution we only covered two municipalities namely Lakewood and Vincenzo Sagun. Now we covered seven (7) municipalities, namely Josefina, Pitogo, Tukuran, Kumalarang, Tigbao, Lakewood and Vincenzo Sagun. By October, we are expecting to double the number of our coverage to fourteen (14) municipalities in Zamboanga del Sur,” quipped Mr. Andrie Udal, an IT consultant who is working closely with the provincial governments of Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Norte and Misamis Occidental.  To date, the municipalities of Josefina, Pitogo and Tukuran have no CeCs yet.

"Maraming, maraming salamat po sa CeC at LGU Vincenzo Sagun. Hindi na kami maglalakad ng anim na oras to get our benefits (Thank you to the CeC and the LGU of Vincenzo Sagun. We no longer need to walk six hours to get our benefits)," said Manang Lolita, a resident of Vincenzo Sagun.Along with the VSagun CeC manager and staff, Mr. Udal convinced the DSWD and the local government  to release the program funds locally. Program beneficiaries were given between PhP 900 to PhP 1900 cash aid per person by the aforementioned program.

In addition, to being the DSWD 4Ps Program Partner, the VSagun CeC is also a Globe Gcash Partner, serving as the cashout location for the DSWD through the new online and SMS payment technology (Gcash).  Additionally, the CeC also facilitated the private funding of 10 million pesos to finance the Gcash disbursements in the municipality. It also succeeded in bringing in P 2,389,400.00 worth of cash fund to be used for local circulation to increase the economic activities of the said municipality. 

Residents like Manang Lolita are grateful to the CeC of Vincenzo Sagun and the WAHP foundation. "Dati po kailangan namin na sumakay ng van para mag-withdraw sa Dumalinao or sa Pagadian. Gagastos po kami ng mahigit 250 pesos para sa pamasahe at pagkain. Salamat CeC Vsagun, WAHP Foundation and Mayor Adlaon (Before, we had to ride a van to withdraw in Dumalinao or Pagadian; we spend more than P250 for our fare and food. Thank you CeC VSagun, WAHP Foundation and Mayor Adlaon)," said Aling Zenaida of Barangay Sagucan, one of the areas served by the CeC.

On a related vein,  the municipality of Kumalarang, also did a similar activity last August 11, 2011 spearheaded by the Kumalarang CeC.