DSWD-7 Allocates P70M for Employment Program

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-7) in Central Visayas has allocated some P70.94 million for the implementation of its Emergency Employment Program for Yolanda victims in northern Cebu and Bohol.

DSWD-7 community driven enterprise development officer, Jennifer Quimno said the Emergency Employment or Cash-for-Work Program offers income to Yolanda victims in a short-term period of 15 days as an immediate relief to address financial needs.

Quimno said that for northern Cebu, DSWD-7 set aside P58.854 million funding for 15,056 recipients under the program. This includes the P3.1 million given to some 2,200 Yolanda victims in Bantayan Island as payout for labor services during the recent visit of President Benigno Aquino III, said the DSWD-7 officer.

“In Bohol, DSWD-7 allocated P12.089 million for 1,212 beneficiaries of the same program,” said Quimno.

The program is implemented in 13 towns in Bohol including Ubay, Antequerra, Calape, Bien Unido, Getafe, Talibon and Buenavista and in partnership with the Bohol Provincial Agriculture Office, Quimno said.

Beneficiaries, identified by their local government units, are paid based on the daily minimum wage classification of the area.

According to Quimno, the program involves the payment of the following: labor services on clearing operations, rehab and repair of government owned buildings and facilities, bridges, public roads, drainage system, spill way and cleaning of canals; shelter reconstruction; community livelihood; communal gardening; communal farm preparation; vegetable farm or green valley project; mangrove clearing and rehabilitation; clearing and cleaning of coastal areas.

Labor services also included agricultural rehabilitation and vermin-composting; coconut tree plantation, and seaweed planting.

Quimno was one of the guests during the press briefing on Post-Yolanda Rehabilitation Phase held at the AFP-Central Command with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-7) and the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).

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