At least five hundred workers from Sultan Kudarat in the Soccsksargen region of Mindanao were given emergency employment after earthquakes struck the province in the last quarter of 2019.
The Department of Labor and Employment – Sultan Kudarat Field Office (DOLE-SKFO) was reported on February 19, 2020, to have downloaded Php1.56 million to accredited co-partnersPhp1.56 million to accredited co-partners (ACPs) for the emergency employment implementation in over 8 barangays in the province.
“The beneficiaries are given opportunity to work for 10 days and are entitled to receive pay based on the prevailing minimum wage rate in the region. This will also provide financial support to their families,” Mary Jane Hoksuan, head of DOLE-SKFO, said.
ACPs and the beneficiaries came from the following barangays:
- Libertad in Columbio
- D’Ledesma in Tacurong City
- Kalawag II in Isulan
- Antong in Lutayan
- Daluga in Bagumbayan
- Daladap in Esperanza
- Poblacion in President Quirino
- Lilit in Lambayong.
The emergency employment program was implemented under DOLE’s “Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD)”, a community-based program that aims to assist and provide emergency employment for displaced workers or underemployed and seasonal workers for a minimum period of 10 days, not exceeding a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work to be performed.
Sultan Kudarat experienced a Magnitude 6.3 earthquake last October and a Magnitude 4.5 in December 2019 that destroyed lives and properties and displaced families from their homes.
TUPAD helpsTUPAD helps in these kinds of calamities as a community-based program with projects that include:
- Social Community Projects (such as repair, maintenance, and/or improvement of common public facilities and infrastructure)
- Economic Community Projects (repair, maintenance and/or rehabilitation of farm-to-market roads, bridges, post-harvest facilities, public markets and common service facilities)
- Agro-forestry Community projects (tree planting, seedling preparation, and reforestation)
Employability of Filipinos has been helped by programs such as TESDA’s skills training and DOLE’s job fairs.
Mindanao-based Bangsamoro Young Leaders Program–Leadership Communities (BYLP–LeadCom), which partnered with Ayala Foundation, the Office of the Regional Governor–Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ORG–ARMM), and the Eisenhower Fellows Association of the Philippines (EFAP), also engage in various projects that help local communities.
Taytay Sa Kauswagan Incorporated (TSKI) a Christian Development Organization founded in 2016, also aims to help Filipinos overcome poverty.
SEND CHEERS in the comments below to the people of Sultan Kudarat for this Labor Department relief project that helps them through crises!
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