2 gov’t agencies ink deal to help jobless Filipinos

Filipinos have been proven over time to bond in times of calamities.

The alarming poverty incidence called “intergeneration cycle of poverty” is already in existence and poses a threat to the Filipinos.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is exploring opportunities through convergence strategies, forging agreements with other government agencies on anti-poverty programs.

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), a flagship program of the government that is implemented by the DSWD, has tapped the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to provide jobs for its poor beneficiaries.

The two agencies signed an agreement last June 28 for the creation of “Trabahong Lansangan ng Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.”

DSWD will endorse its beneficiaries to the DPWH for employment in the DPWH’s implemented programs and infrastructure projects.

The Trabahong Lansangan was launched last Oct. 3 in San Remegio town, northern Cebu where seven job orders were given to beneficiaries from the municipalities of San Remegio, Tabogon, Tabuelan and Tuburan.

The event was graced by Cebu 3rd district Rep. Benhur Salimbangon, San Remegio Mayor Jay Olivar, assistant district engineer of Cebu’s 1st Engineering District Marietta Ecarma, Roadside Maintenance Division chief engineer Dolores Salazar and DSWD Regional Director Ma. Evelyn Macapobre.

“I did not expect that we would be trusted with a job. I have been hoping to work so I can set an example to my children. I am so thankful with this opportunity. We will try our best to prove to the DSWD that they were not wrong in recommending us,” Elma Hortelano, 41 years old and a mother of three from barangay Canaocanao, Tabogon said in Cebuano.

DSWD Regional Director Ma. Evelyn Macapobre congratulated the seven initial workers of the program and stressed the importance of responsibility, saying “it is now in your shoulders to prove to DPWH that they were not mistaken in hiring Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries.”

Macapobre also reminded them to be responsible in their jobs as they now represent the rest of the beneficiaries who are in need of jobs.

“By doing your work diligently, you are also giving other beneficiaries a chance for employment,” she said.

The beneficiaries would earn P250  per day for the job order that is only until December. Macapobre said that hopefully by 2012, new projects would come up and generate more employment for the 4PS beneficiaries in Central Visayas.