Jerry Bassig is 52 years old from Barangay Magalalag West, Municipality of Enrile. He lives with his wife Joy and their two children. Jerry has an orthopedic disability, his left arm was amputated due to an accident that happened when he was working in the farm while harvesting rice. His hand was severely cut off by rice thresher blades, but this never stopped him from working and doing what he can do to provide for his family. Those who know him describe him as a determined and responsible father, someone who, even in the most difficult moments, chose to hold his family together rather than let circumstances pull them apart.
Like many families in Enrile, Jerry and Joy depended on various but inconsistent sources of income to get by. Both worked as farmer-laborers, with Joy taking in laundry jobs on the side, from which Joy personally earned around 400 pesos a week. Three months ago they also used to run a small street food vending business using their bicycle with a sidecar, which helped supplement what they earned from the farm. However, as the cost of basic commodities and their daily expenses, including their children’s school fees, continued to grow, they were unable to earn enough to keep the business going. Without money to restock supplies, the food vending stopped and their bicycle fell into disrepair.
The situation pushed the family to difficult crossroads. Joy considered going to Manila to work as a household helper, hoping it would ease their financial difficulties, but Jerry did not agree as their children were still in school and needed someone to take care of them at home. The family was left struggling, with few options and no clear path forward.
CFSI works closely with Local Government Units (LGUs) in Tuguegarao City and the Municipalities of Enrile, Solana, and Iguig in Cagayan Province to identify the most vulnerable persons, primarily those with disability or special needs, in their respective communities. They are prioritized for sustainable and climate-resilient livelihood support through the Cagayan Recovery Project (CRP), implemented by CFSI with support from the Australian Government.
In December 2025, CFSI provided Jerry and Joy with a livelihood grant for them to start their business and to buy the needed food items to sell to their target customers or buyers. With this support, the family was able to repair their damaged bicycle with a sidecar and restock the supplies they needed to restart their business.
The impact on the family was immediate. Jerry and Joy immediately restarted their food vending business, selling street food around their nearby barangays. They started earning an average of 750 pesos a day, enough to cover their basic household needs, meet their children’s school expenses, and work toward renewing their business permit. For the first time in a long while, they were also able to start setting aside savings.
As months passed, Jerry and Joy grew more confident in running their business. During CFSI’s monitoring visit in April 2026, Jerry had started selling halo-halo in the morning and balut in the afternoon, adjusting their products based on the time of day, market demand, and the season to keep income steady throughout the day.
“Ang laki ng tulong ng CFSI sa amin, lalo na sa mga panggastos namin araw-araw at sa pag-aaral ng aking mga anak sa susunod na pasukan. Mayroon din kaming naitabi sa kita naming sa pagtitinda. Salamat sa binigay niyo malaking tulong ito.”
(“The support from CFSI has been a big help to us, especially for our daily expenses and for my children’s schooling in the upcoming school year. We were also able to save some money from our small business. Thank you for what you have given us, it is a big help.”)
Looking ahead, Jerry’s hope is to expand their street food vending beyond what they currently offer. Rather than focusing on a single product, he envisions growing the business to include a wider variety of items, so they can serve more customers and earn more consistently throughout the day. For Jerry, the goal has always been clear: to build something stable enough that his family will never have to face the same difficult choices again.
Jerry and Joy’s story is one among many supported by the Cagayan Recovery Project (CRP). Implemented by CFSI with support from the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the project aims to promote the protection, resilience, and sustainable recovery of 1,000 households (approximately 5,000 individuals) affected by the series of tropical cyclones that struck Cagayan Province in late 2024. This project also ensures that the most vulnerable households, including persons with disabilities, are not left behind in the recovery process.