DSWD, DOLE to hire victims of ‘Ondoy’

MANILA, Philippines—After receiving dole-outs for more than a week, victims of Tropical Storm “Ondoy” (international codename: Ketsana) in Metro Manila will be given a chance to earn a living.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) have separately started an emergency employment
program to help those rendered jobless and homeless by Ondoy make some money.

They will be put to work cleaning up the debris in roads and schools.

Under the DSWD’s cash-for-work program, about 50,000 evacuees can earn P2,310, or P231 a day, for 10 days doing “community clean-up.”

Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral said the department has allotted P130 million for the emergency jobs program which will be funded from the road user’s tax.

The DSWD emergency jobs program will be implemented in Metro Manila, and the number of jobs to be offered per city or municipality will be in proportion to the number of families affected there.

The DOLE’s emergency employment program meanwhile will employ 1,450 workers for 15 days in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Southern Luzon, the regions hit hardest by Ondoy.

“They will clean and clear up flood debris in roads and in schools,” said Labor Secretary Marianito Roque. They will also help in the repair of damaged infrastructure such as school buildings and daycare centers.

The program aims to benefit 100 workers each in Marikina, Quezon City, Pasig, Pateros, and Taguig; 50 each in Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela in Camanava; and 50 each in Muntinlupa, San Juan and Mandaluyong. –Dona Pazzibugan, Kristine Alave and Christine Avendaño, Philippine Daily Inquirer