Positive outlook

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Friday that it is positive that it will meet its goal of providing monetary assistance to 5.2 million poor families by 2016 through its conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.

Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman revealed that there are almost 2.3 million families who already received the grant under the program. “With the approval of the budget, it will be enough for the beneficiaries who will be given by end of July,” said Soliman, who is chair of the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster during the pre-SONA which was aired live Friday over NBN-TV. The cluster is composed of the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Health, and Department of Education. (Sarah Hilomen-Velasco)

Employment program

The government is optimistic it will meet its one million local job creation target by the end of the year, Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said.

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said during a television interview on the Human Development cluster of Philippine Development Plan (PDP) Friday that based from the second quarter Labor Force Survey (LFS) of the National Statistics Office (NSO), the country has already posted about 1.4 million jobs.

The recent LFS survey covers the period from April last year to April this year.

“If this will continue, we will be able to improve our target (for this year).” (Samuel Medenilla)

PhilHealth registration

Individuals who failed to register in the recent Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) registration day last June 25 due to typhoon “Falcon” can still register in any PhilHealth branch nationwide, health officials said. National Center for Disease Prevention and Control (NCDPC) Director Dr. Gerardo Bayugo also repeated their call to those working in the informal sector or self-employed individuals to become a member of Philhealth.

Bayugo estimates some 4.8 million Filipinos who are capable of becoming PhilHealth members but remain unregistered. “For only P100 per month, you already have the whole family enrolled in PhilHealth… Instead of buying cigarettes, just save P3 a day so you can pay the monthly premium,” he said. (Jenny Manongdo)

BFP building

After a long wait, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) now has its own building that it can now call its national headquarters and will start occupying it on Monday. The BFP announced that the offices will start to occupy the new building this week and, hopefully, will be fully occupied by the end of the month.

Previously renting office spaces at the Union Square Condominium in Cubao, the new national headquarters is now located on Agham Road in Quezon City. The bureau will be housed in a seven-storey building that can be occupied by 560 employees. (Jeffrey Damicog)

DOLE commended

Senator Antonio “Sonny” F. Trillanes IV filed a Senate resolution commending the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) for spearheading an initiative that led to the adoption by the International Labor Organization (ILO) of the landmark treaty giving protection to millions of domestic workers across the world.

In a resolution filed in the Senate on Tuesday, Trillanes said the ILO Convention 189, or the Decent Work for Domestic Workers Convention, was a major victory for an estimated 53 million to 100 million Filipino and foreign domestic workers who take on this job abroad. (Rolly Carandang)