DILG asks companies to hire relatives of fallen cops, soldiers

Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año has requested the private sector to help families of policemen and soldiers who were killed in the line of duty by giving job opportunities to their dependents.

According to a statement from Año on Tuesday, there is a pressing need for the private sector to hire relatives of those killed-in-action (KIA) or killed-in-police-operation (KIPO) to ensure that they have a sufficient source of income.

“We hope to forge a long-term partnership with the private sector in making certain that the families left by our KIA-KIPOs, our heroes, will live a life far from poverty by presenting them with job opportunities,” he said.

“It’s the least that we can do in honor of our fallen heroes who sacrificed their own lives for our cause,” he added.

Año’s call comes despite the existence of the Comprehensive Social Benefits Program (CSBP), a project of President Rodrigo Duterte spearheaded by the DILG, aimed at assisting the employment of bereaved family members to government agencies, local government units (LGUs), and the ARMM government.

He also said that the DILG central office will provide the database of dependents to LGUs, for local chief executives to endorse the employment of KIA-KIPO dependents to private sectors within their local jurisdiction,

“Help from the government will not cease but it would be better if we receive help from the private sector in assuring that the future of the people left behind by our KIA-KIPO law enforcers,” Año said.

As of July 31, DILG said that 343 out of the 595 dependents were either employed, processed, or given livelihood opportunities through CSBP.

Of the 343 employed, 277 were hired in Department of Public Works and Highways (168), DILG (44), Department of Labor and Employment (44), Department of Trade and Industry (6), Department of Education (5), Department of Health (4), LGU (4), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (2).

The rest are either under training with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, employed, or undecided. /je