Panabo, Philippines - In 2007, the government of Panabo city, in the southern Philippines, opened an integrated terminal for buses and jeepneys (local mini-buses) along a main highway with funding from ADB's Mindanao Basic Urban Services Sector Project.
In addition to streamlining the loading and unloading of passengers and goods, the new terminal also improved the lives of the women who boarded buses to sell snacks, drinks, or souvenirs to passengers.
Helen Dolino, 43, is one such vendor. She used to chase buses up and down the main road of Panabo, scramble aboard and hawk her wares - cigarette sticks, biscuits, and candies - to travelers plying the main highway that links northern and southern Mindanao Island.
"We would run from one bus to the other to sell our merchandise since there was no designated terminal for provincial buses and jeepneys," recalled Dolino.
It was chaotic, she said, and did not result in many sales.
Today, with the new terminal, the government allows vendors like Dolino to display merchandise for free in small stalls, as long as they undergo training in the nearby Women Resource Center, and do not approach buses or harass passengers.
A Women Resource Center was constructed through a US$105,685.9 grant from ADB's Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. The center teaches poor women in Panabo new ways to improve their incomes, and then helps them set up small food stores for their products. So far, it has trained more than 100 women vendors, including Dolino.
The center's training modules include food processing for native delicacies, fruit processing, and ice cream making, as well as simple accounting and bookkeeping for the vendors. It has plans to train about 1,600 poor women in Panabo.
Before the Women Resource Center, there were times when Dolino and her friends would have so little money at the end of the day that they would go to the local social welfare office to ask for rice and dried fish to bring home to their families.
But these days, Dolino is able to sell native delicacies produced by women at the center. "Because of these, we now have extra income. We now can earn 100 to 300 pesos (US$2 to US$6) more each day," she said.
Alice Buenafe, 50, is also one of the center's beneficiaries. She can be seen selling its merchandise in the terminal from 4:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. almost every day. According to Buenafe, sales have been rising steadily. All public buses and jeepneys stop at the terminal, making it a natural retail and commercial hub.
Buenafe recently finished a training module on ice cream making, which has had a measurable impact on her finances. "The center has helped me increase our family income," said Buenafe, whose husband is also a vendor. Their combined daily income now averages around 1,200 pesos (just over US$25).
The Panabo Women Resource Center also operates a preschool for the children of vendors. This year, 37 students have been enrolled. The preschool allows these busy vendors to have peace of mind, knowing that their children are safe and learning, just nearby.
ADB's Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction is financing the construction of Women Resource Centers in six other provinces in Mindanao.
