237,611 jobs created for Pinoys from January to June

MANILA, Philippines – Nearly a quarter of a million unemployed or underemployed Filipinos found jobs through the Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (CLEEP) between January and July this year, the government said yesterday.

In a statement, Secretary Domingo Panganiban of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), said the government has afforded jobs for some 237,611 Filipinos over the past six months alone.

“We have already committed more than P7 billion of the P13.58 billion pledged by various agencies to the CLEEP thus far. That makes for a 52-percent utilization rate of public funds,” he said.

Panganiban said President Arroyo has ordered an increase in the pace and efficiency of employment in public works and services under her nationwide emergency jobs program.

“The Department of Public Works and Highway had hired some 46,604 workers during the timeframe while the Department of Agriculture allowed jobs for 37,524 more workers through its food security programs,” he said.

“The Department of Trade and Industry helped some 29,545 Filipinos find jobs. The Department of Social Welfare and Development created jobs for 27,127 workers, and the Department of Education hired 19,356 workers for its herbal soap making project and as utility workers for the repair and maintenance of public school building projects during the period covered.”

Panganiban said preliminary reports from the field indicate that some 13 other government agencies have combined to create jobs for another 77,445 workers nationwide.

“The President is keeping a close watch on this program,” he said. 

“We expect to announce even bigger employment figures in the weeks ahead as a number of agencies are still in the process of tallying their field reports.”

These agencies include the Department of Agrarian Reform, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of National Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of Finance, the Department of Health, the Department of Labor and Employment, the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Transportation and Communications, the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, and the Metro Manila Development Authority, Panganiban said.  – Paolo Romero, Philippine star