SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – Some 286 Ilocano ambulant vendors have benefitted from nego-kart or “Negosyo sa Kariton” the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has distributed in the Ilocos region this year.
DOLE 1 (Ilocos) information officer Justin Paul Marbella said 33 nego-kart units were given to Ilocos Norte beneficiaries, 20 units in Western Pangasinan, eight units in Ilocos Sur, and 225 units in Central Pangasinan.
Each of the units costs P20,000. The entire package was worth P5.7 million. Each unit costs PHP20,000. One beneficiary, a widow from Pangasinan, 39-year old Rialyn Bernabe, said the project helped her provide for her family’s needs.
“The nego-kart is heaven-sent for me to raise my children,” Rialyn said, adding her children are still “very young” and her husband recently passed away. She sells street food, such as kikiam and fishball using her nego-kart.
The DOLE said the nego-kart is a project for ambulant vendors in major cities of the country whose ambulant vending ventures grow into profitable and sustainable businesses thus, making their income level at par with minimum wage earners.