Labor dep't aids 796 NCR beneficiaries with P8.5-M cash, livelihood

MANILA – A total of 796 beneficiaries in Metro Manila received over P8.5 million worth of financial and livelihood assistance in celebration of the 90th founding anniversary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Friday.

Based on DOLE data, the amount included P3.05 million for the salaries of 500 Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) emergency employment workers from various villages in Manila.

A budget of P1.098-million was also allotted for the salaries of 150 Government Internship Program interns assigned to different agencies while P3.69 million was for 123 beneficiaries of the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program.

Meanwhile, eight Filipinos from Lebanon who availed of voluntary repatriation and 15 persons deprived of liberty received P240,000 and P450,000 worth of livelihood packages, respectively.

Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma and officials of the Manila City government, led by Mayor Honey Lacuna, awarded the livelihood packages at Manila Science High School, which coincided with a job fair where over 13,000 jobs were offered

"Ito po ay para sa lahat, maraming job fair na ginaganap at gaganapin sa iba't ibang lugar sa bansa (This is for everyone. We have ongoing job fairs and more would be held across the country)," Laguesma said in an interview.

As of Friday morning, 10 applicants have been hired on-the-spot.

One of them was Pasay City's Jomme Domingo, 27, who was hired as a branch personnel by a delivery company.

Jaime Dagon, 54, a first-time job fair applicant from Malate, District, applied with six companies.

"Nagpasa lang ako resume. Nagbabakasakali na magtanggap kahit isa man lang sa kanila (I just submitted resumes. I just want to try, if maybe I will be hired by one of them)," he said in an interview.

Meanwhile, person with disability John Lowel Guardian, 25, expressed hope that his disability will not be a hindrance to being employed.

The top industries and vacancies for local employment are business processing outsourcing, manufacturing, retail and sales, and construction.

The top jobs offered were hospitality and customer service tepresentatives, production worker/operator, cashier/bagger/sales clerk, laborer/carpenter/painter, casino dealer, and service crew.

Health, industrial cleaning, housekeeping service, and agriculture offered vacancies for nurses, caregivers, cleaners, household service workers, and farmer/agricultural workers for overseas employment.

The countries of destination for overseas employment are Canada, Croatia, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Japan, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and the United States. (PNA)