Lagawe, Ifugao – The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) here is preparing jobs for students during the Christmas vacation in this year in partnership with the provincial government and municipality of Lamut to enable them to earn income for their educational needs.
DoLE Field Officer Alex Gumabol said Regional Director Sixto Rodriguez notified them that the amount of P27,176 is allotted by DoLE for Ifugao under the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES) this Christmas break in order to provide them with a temporary source of income which they could use as they pursue their studies.
However, Gumabol said that the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) through the Office of the Vice governor Pedro Mayam-o, pledged the additional amount of P261,264.00 as its counterpart to augment the fund provided by DoLE that can employ 209 students from the different parts of the province who are able to qualify for the special work during the Yuletide vacation thereby contributing to generating courses of their income to allow them to pursue their studies.
The municipality of Lamut also pledged P150,000.00 to hire 144 student in their area bringing the total amount of pledge by the local government units to P411,264.00.
Target beneficiaries are poor but deserving students who are 15 to 24 years old coming from families living below the poverty threshold level or whose annual family income of both parents do not exceed P117,318.00.
The program is also open for out-of-school youths intending to enroll in tertiary of technical-vocational schools, working students from TESDA and other vocational schools who cannot complete courses due to financial constraints.
Application and screening is now open for those interested to work for the 209 slots provided by the SP at the Office of the Vice Governor in the Provincial Capitol Building at Lagawe while the 144 student workers for Lamut have already been identified by the municipal government based on the criteria.
Applicants are advised to bring with them their birth certificates, the Income Tax Return of their parents and proof that they are enrolled in any school.
The successful applicants will work for 10 days with a rate of P207.91/day during the Christmas break in December for those employed by the Office of the Vice Governor while those hired by the Lamut LGU will receive P173.21/day as wages.
Earlier, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman said that the DSWD, local government units (LGUs), concerned government agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs) were working together for the speedy implementation of the recovery and rehabilitation plan for the families adversely affected by recent typhoons Pedring and Quiel.
One of the components of the plan is the Cash-for-Work (CFW) or Food-for-Work (FFW) program for the displaced families to be implemented by DSWD regional offices in Regions I, II, III, NCR, and CAR.
Beneficiaries of the Cash-for-Work and Food-for-Work programs will receive cash based on the prevailing regional wages of food in exchange for doing community projects, such as repair and reconstruction of damaged houses and community facilities, clean-up and garbage collection, among others.

Source: Manila Bulletin - October 18, 2011