• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Close to P23 million in assistance was received by over 2,800 workers, students, and sugar industry beneficiaries from Negros Occidental, during the visit of Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino in Bacolod City Aug. 4.
The assistance includes P21.83 million under the DOLE’s Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program, received by 2,650 disadvantaged workers.
Another P1.02 million in wages benefited 200 student-beneficiaries under the Special Program for Employment of Students, as well as financial assistance to sugar workers affected by Typhoon Tino, and scholarship grants to dependents of workers’ organizations, the DOLE-Negros Island Region said.
In the first six months of this year, the agency said it already released P378.6 million in emergency employment assistance to 43,332 beneficiaries from vulnerable and disadvantaged sectors across the region, providing them with immediate income support while allowing them to contribute to projects that directly benefit their communities.
Tolentino was in Bacolod for the memorandum of agreement (MOA) signing on socio-economic projects for workers in the sugar industry, along with the Sugar Industry Foundation Inc. and the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines Inc.
The MOA on Sugar Workers Educational Assistance Program aims to expand educational opportunities and implement socio-economic programs that will improve the lives of sugar workers and their families, the DOLE-NIR said.
“Let this (agreement) be proof that our sugar industry can be both competitive in the world market and compassionate to its own workforce,” Tolentino said in a statement. “The mission is to have a life wherein our sugar workers could receive the appropriate amount for their jobs, for the employers and consumers, and a great amount for their investments, and industrial peace in sugar industry.” | CGC
