Archival: DWUP’s mushroom-growing program ‘nonsense, waste of money’

The Cebu City’s mushroom cultivation program under the livelihood assistance has undergone scrutiny before the City Council to determine its objective, guidelines, and feasibility.

- Iris Hazel Mascardo

Cebu City Councilor Nestor Archival Sr., however, said he is not convinced with how the publicly-funded program has been implemented as presented by the Division of the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) during the council’s executive session yesterday. He called it, “nonsense” and a “waste of money.”

Archival has called for the executive session to review the program, it’s eligibility qualifications, guidelines, and financial assistance provided to the constituents.

He added that this stemmed from several individuals who came forward to inquire about the assistance.

During the session, Archival said that the council is seeking clarity on the qualifications for the mushroom-growing program due to his confusion about the assistance itself.

The first to appear was Catherine Maderazo Trapzi, DWUP Project Evaluation Officer III, who discussed about the office’s mandate, which is primarily to assist the urban poor by providing resettlement sites and a decent housing at a most affordable site. She said that this also comes with employment opportunities, constituting the provision of livelihood.

She said that since the creation of DWUP, the livelihood program has already existed. She added that DWUP’s existing programs are backed by legal provisions as mandated by law.

On the mushroom cultivation program, she said that DWUP has aligned this assistance to fit with the urban landscape of Cebu City.

“Kung makikita n’yo, we only have limited space for green spaces, which can affect the quality of life of the people, so they have limited agricultural farming,” she said.

She cited informal employment as one of the factors that strengthened this livelihood assistance.