The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Sept. 11 granted informal sector workers in Masbate, some of them recovering from the recent typhoon Jolina, P43.2 million worth of livelihood assistance through its pangkabuhayan programs.
Some 3,600 displaced or disadvantaged Masbateño workers, including returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and youth interns, received aid of around P34.8 million from the DOLE pangkabuhayan programs such as the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP) worth P3.3 million and Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD).
Led by Labor Sec. Silvestre Bello III, the DOLE team also awarded P4.7 million in stipends for the beneficiaries of the Government Internship Program (GIP) and nearly P240,000 in DOLE – AKAP assistance and social benefits for OFW families.
Bello also awarded DOLE Safety Seals to Masbate-based Filminera Resources Corporation and Philippine Gold Processing and Refining Corporation for complying with the health and safety standards of Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
“Ang utos ng ating Pangulo, ang kuwarta sa tao. Inyo ‘yung pera. Hindi niyo utang sa akin ‘yan, hindi niyo iyan utang sa DOLE. Iyan ay pera ninyo, dapat lang na mapunta sa inyo,” Bello told the beneficiaries as he also reminded them to take care of their livelihood programs.
Among the DOLE grantees are selected vaccinated essential workers who received bicycle units with complete accessories and mobile phones under the DILP’s Bike-Cination Project.
Welcomed by Masbate local chief executives and DOLE Region V headed by Director Ma. Zenaida Angara-Campita, Bello was also joined by Undersecretary Benjo Santos Benavidez, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac, DOLE-NCR Director Sarah Buena Mirasol, and Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns Director Ma. Karina Perida-Trayvilla. (DOLE) – jlo
