By Chito Chavez The Presidential Commission for Urban Poor (PCUP) has initiated livelihood programs for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community. (MARK BALMORES FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN) Most recently, 30 members of an LGBT community group were provided with the three-day training for Sustainable Livelihood Program from the DSWD in Davao City through the initiatives of the PCUP. The PCUP provided assistance to several LGBT Davao City Coalition groups in a bid to give them access to livelihood programs and create socio-economic opportunities for their members. During the training, DSWD oriented the beneficiaries on fundamentals of business management such as financial management, resource mobilization, conflict management, and leadership. Each qualified LGBT will receive P 15,000.00 financial assistance from the DSWD after the said mandatory training. "We initiated this kind of program with the DSWD to capacitate and identify leaders who can sustain the program; the marginalized sector and the minority groups like them can also be given assistance from the government," said PCUP Commissioner Norman Baloro in an interview. The commission created a convergence strategy with several government agencies to provide avenues for economic, social and productivity development of the urban poor LGBT. On 2018, the Quezon City based PCUP released a resolution called "Kabahagi Kabahaghari" which provides social inclusion of the urban poor LGBT community in policy reform agenda and decision making for human development. Baloro added that the PCUP will create more effective policy reforms to alleviate poverty in urban poor areas from sectors such as children, youth, PWD, women, elderly, indigenous people and LGBT. He ensured that the commission will support the needs of urban poor especially those who are oppressed, depressed and disadvantaged minority groups.