Cash-for-work program for oil spill affected residents to start March 15
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The cash-for-work program for residents affected by the oil spill in Oriental Mindoro will start on March 15.
According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Friday, validation and verification of the beneficiaries are underway.
“Napakahalaga po ng tulong po ng ating mga local governments. Ito po kasi mag-start po ito ng March 15. Ngayon po ay nasa validation at verification po tayo noong mga isinumite pong pangalan ng maaari pong mapasama dito po sa ating programa na ito,” DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez said in a Laging Handa public briefing.
(Our local governments’ help is important. The cash-for-work program will start on March 15. Now, we are in the validation and verification of names that will be included in the program.)
“So, ngayon po tinatapos na po nating ma-validate sila kasi para masimulan na po natin kaagad itong ating pamamahagi ng cash-for-work. And then ito po, maaari po natin itong i-extend kung talagang kakailanganin,” he added.
(So, now, we are finishing the validation so we could start with the cash-for-work program. Then, we can extend the program if needed.)
Some 14,000 fishers and the poorest of the poor, including recipients of the anti-poverty program Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), will be the priority for the program, Lopez said.
“Ito po ang utos sa atin ng ating kalihim, Secretary Rex Gatchalian: iyong mga kababayan natin na hindi makapalaot. Iyong mga mangingisda po iyong ating priority kasi tandaan po natin na may fishing ban din po sa area,” he said.
(This is the order of our chief, Secretary Rex Gatchalian: our fellow Filipinos who cannot venture out at sea. Fishers are our priority because there is a fishing ban in the area.)
“Bukod po doon sa ating mga mangingisda, priority po siyempre sa ating cash-for-work iyong mga poorest of the poor po natin sa area kabilang po dito iyong ating mga 4Ps beneficiaries, kabilang din po dito iyong poorest of the poor na hindi naman kasama sa 4Ps natin pero sila po ay nananatili nga po na mahirap,” he added.
(Aside from fishers, our priority as well are the poorest of the poor, regardless if they are 4Ps beneficiaries or not.)
The workers will clean up the oil spill that spread in the waters off their province.
The program’s beneficiaries will receive P355 per day, the minimum wage in their region.
On February 28, a tanker carrying 800,000 liters of oil sank in Oriental Mindoro, placing at least 70 coastal villages under a state of calamity.
