ZAMBOANGA CITY, June 13, 2023– The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) 9 released livelihood and emergency employment assistance worth more than PHP 3 million pesos to workers in the informal sector (WIS) and parents of child laborers during the Araw ng Kalayaan celebration held at KCC Mall de Zamboanga, this City, on June 12, 2023.

In an interview, DOLE 9 Regional Director Albert E. Gutib said that the assistance was through DOLE’s Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP) composed of the Kabuhayan Program and the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Displaced or Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) Program.

“Under the DILP, we turned over a check amounting to PHP 1.2 million to Accredited Co-Partner (ACP), Zamboanga Women’s Federation Inc., to cover the cost of tools and jigs for 40 livelihood starter kits benefitting parents of child laborers,” Gutib shared.

Beneficiaries are set to undertake the following individual projects: rice retailing, commissary store, charcoal retailing, cooking (merienda, barbeque stand, siopao making, carinderia) and mobile food stalls in the coming days.

“In the case of TUPAD, we conducted a malawakang payout at the basement level of KCC Mall de Zamboanga to accommodate 583 beneficiaries from various barangays in Zamboanga City,” Gutib explained.

More than two thirds of these workers were affected by Typhoon Paeng in October 2022.

These beneficiaries each received PHP 3,510.00 as wages for 10 days work under the said program.

Based on the work plan, these informal sector workers were engaged on social and economic community projects such as repair, maintenance, and/or improvement of common public facilities and infrastructure such as schools and health centers, debris clearing, declogging of canals, debris segregation and materials recovery, stockpiling and clearing.

The Accredited Co-Partners for the payout were the barangay local government units of Bolong, Calarian and San Jose Gusu.

DILEEP seeks to contribute to poverty reduction and reduce the vulnerability to risks of the working poor, vulnerable, and marginalized workers either through emergency employment or the promotion of entrepreneurship and community enterprises. END