Bicol and Mindoro – Tuna fishing communities across the Lagonoy Gulf and Mindoro Strait enjoyed the earnings of their community savings during Christmas cashouts activities held throughout December.
The cashouts are the latest from an initiative being rolled out by the World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines (WWF-Philippines). WWF-Philippines has been organizing Group Savings and Loans Committees (GSLCs) in communities across Bicol and Mindoro, to both support livelihoods and improve financial management.
Commonly known as village savings clubs, the GSLCs are a means for communities to save money amongst themselves. Headed by a board and guided by by-laws decided by the group, each GSLC can access a shared pool of funds from which members can borrow or invest in projects to improve their community.
Each GSLC also acts as a safety net for its members during hard times. Medicine and hospital bills were among the top reasons cash withdrawals were made throughout the year.
The cashouts held this month are the result of continuous community saving throughout the past year. Over 3,000,000 pesos were raised across 24 communities in Lagonoy Gulf, while another 600,000 pesos were raised in nine communities across Mindoro Strait.
“For every fish I catch, I make sure to put money into our GSLC. That’s my work, so that’s where all my savings come from,” shared Nolly Narvato, a fisher from Presentacion, Camarines Sur.
Nolly is the largest shareholder in the Sta. Maria GSLC, with over forty thousand pesos returned to him during the recent cashout. He joined the group after an accident at sea helped him realize the importance of a support group to fall back upon.
“What I want is for our group to continue to grow and grow,” added Nolly.
Buffered by their GSLCs and with the support of their communities, fishers across Bicol and Mindoro enjoyed heartier holidays to cap the previous year.
