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A typical young adult experiencing the zest of a ‘quarter life’ would already be yearning for greater things--a new car, the latest gadget, a travel spree, or a job promotion

with the corresponding pay raise, and other corporeal perks.But for Sammilyn Jed, she only has one wish on her bucket

list–a wheelchair.The 26-year old native of Tambler, a coastal district in

General Santos City, has spent a quarter of her life in a wooden crib inside their home due to her physical disability and speech defect caused by pulmonary infection when she was only nine months old.

While her five siblings grew up in freedom as normal teens, Sammilyn Jed viewed the world only from a corner of her window, her movement restricted and proscribed.

Yet, Sammilyn Jed was fervent even if she was feeble. She believed she can escape her immobile captivity if she could only have her own wheelchair, a dream that her family’s poverty makes as a flight of fancy. The only source of the family’s income was his father’s tricycle, which earns him about P200 daily.

Sammilyn Jed’s mother, Fatima, lamented that the last time her daughter had a wheelchair was when she was still five years old. “Mula noon, nandoon na lang siya sa loob ng bahay. Binubuhat-buhat ko na lang siya. Minsan nakikihiram na lang kami ng wheelchair kasi hindi talaga namin kayang bumili,” she said.

Good luck finally smiled on 20 July 2012 when Sammilyn Jed’s unrequited wish was granted. She was one of the 177 persons with disabilities (PWDs) who each received a wheelchair during the culmination day of the 34th National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (NDPR) Week held at the Gaisano Mall in General Santos City.

The event was part of the province-wide wheelchair caravan which is a product of full convergence of the Department of Labor and Employment Regional Office No. 12 with the Dolefil Incorporated, Mahintana Foundation Inc., and local government units in the SOCCSKARGEN region.

In her report to Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, DOLE RO12 Director Chona Mantilla said the DOLE has merged

In bringing ‘wheels of hope’ to PWDs, DOLE relies on the power of convergence

its Tulong Alay sa Taong may Kapansanan or TULAY program with the Dolefil’s and Mahintana Foundation’s Gabay Para sa May Kapansanan Program.

The regional office, with the assistance of each municipality’s Public Employment Service Office (PESO) and Social Welfare Office, identified Sammilyn Jed and the rest of the PWD-beneficiaries who will each receive a wheelchair.

On their part, the Dolefil Inc. and Mahintana Foundation Inc., together with their sponsor-partners, raised funds to produce 2,800 wheelchairs to be distributed in the region and in some parts of Bukidnon this year.

The caravan kicked-off last 20 June with 12 wheelchairs given to 12 PWDs in the remote municipality of Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat.

Another batch consisting of 177 wheelchairs were awarded to identified PWDs during the distribution at the Gaisano Mall, the major highlight of the NDPR week celebration in the region.

Labor and Employment Secretary Baldoz expressed support to the regional office’s strategy in harnessing the power of convergence to assist PWDs and to bring mobility

closer to more beneficiaries like Sammilyn Jed.

“This convergence speaks highly of our partners’ exercise of corporate social responsibility and we appreciate very much the synergy and commitment

that we are gaining from our partners in providing assistance to our PWDs,” Baldoz said.

“The wheelchair distribution is not a dole-out, but an expression of duty symbolized by hope. This is just the start of our convergent efforts as we face the great challenge today to ensure that PWDs genuinely feel what the

government and its partners are doing for them,” she added.

Human Resource Director Mel Hernandez of Dolefil Inc. strongly expressed the

company’s continuous effort in aligning the company’s corporate social

AN ANSWERED PRAYER. A stare filled with mixed emotions consumed Sammilyn Jed as she finally sits on her own wheelchair —a gift she yearned for almost 20 years.

DOLE Good News

Readers’ queries, comments, and suggestions are welcome. Mail or fax them in, or call us at telephone numbers 527-3000 loc. 621. Our fax number is 527-3446. You may also visit our website: www.dole.gov.ph; or e-mail us at dole_lco@yahoo.com or laborcommunications@gmail.com.

The DOLE Good News is published by the Department of Labor and Employment, with editorial office at the Labor Communications Office, 6th Floor, DOLE Building, Intramuros, Manila. The views expressed herein are those of the writers and/or their sources and do not necessarily reflect those of the DOLE’s or the Philippine Government’s.

EditorNICON F. FAMERONAG

Director, LCO

Associate EditorKAREN R. SERRANO

Staff WritersJOSE C. DE LEON

MARK JAIME L. CERDENIAMA. VERONICA R. ALMAZORA

CELESTE T. MARINGHAZEL JOY T. GALAMAY

REVELITA F. LAXINA

Editorial AssistantsGIRLIE MARLYN E. ARCEMADELYN D. DOMETITA

Graphic ArtistGREGORIO I. GALMAN

PhotographerJOMAR S. LAGMAY

Circulation ManagerGIRLIE MARLYN E. ARCE

Contributing Regional Writers

GENEVIEVE S. TATAD - NCRGEORGE LUBIN, JR. - CAR

JERIDEE C. ORATE - Region 1REGINALD B. ESTIOCO - Region 2JEREMIAH M. BORJA - Region 3

DULCE AMOR L. LEDESMA - Region 4A ANDREA JOY AGUTAYA - Region 4BRAYMOND P. ESCALANTE - Region 5

AMALIA N. JUDICPA - Region 6EFREN O. VITO - Region 7

VIRGILIO A. DOROJA, JR. - Region 8JAZMIN O. CINCO - Region 9

MILDRED E. DABLIO - Region 10JOCELYN C. FLORDELIS - Region 11

CHARMAINE DAWN L. SONSONA - Region 12FRANCIS Y. NAZARIO - Caraga

� July 2012

hen it comes to repatr iat ion, don’t relax, but fast track

some more.”Labor and Employment Secretary

Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz issued this fresh directive to all Philippine Overseas Labor Offices even as she lauded labor attaches, welfare officers, and POLO staff for pursuing in earnest the DOLE policy of reducing the number of OFWs sheltered at the Filipino Workers Resource Centers (FWRCs) in different countries of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe through fast repatriation.

Baldoz, commenting on a report of the POLOs coursed through the DOLE’s International Labor Affairs Bureau, or ILAB, noted that the implementation of the policy since January of this year has effectively brought down the number of sheltered migrant workers by 43 percent, or from a high of 17,745 in December 2011 to 7,602 in June 2012.

“The figures show a declining trend that has been--and needs to be--sustained,” said Baldoz.

“I commend the POLOs for being consistent in our instruction to fast-track the settlement of cases and repatriation of OFWs to de-clog FWRCs, as well as the POEA and the licensed recruitment agencies that provide airline tickets within 48-hour notice of a repatriation,” she added.

First Semester 2012 POLOs’ report

Fast repatriation of OFWs reduces number of wards at FWRCs by 43 percent

The ILAB’s consolidated report showed that all the six FWRCs in Asia have reduced the number of sheltered wards from December 2011 to June 2012, to wit: Hong Kong, from 185 to 97; Korea, from 17 to 8; Brunei, from 105 to 41; Malaysia, from 478 to 273; Taipei, from 74 to 31; and Singapore, from 355 to 327.

On the other hand, 11 of 13 FWRCs in the Middle East reported the following declining figures: Riyadh, from 1,100 to 598; Al Khobar, from 448 to 171; Jeddah, from 743 to 240; Abu Dhabi, from 1,385 to 644; Dubai, 1,385 to 644; Kuwait, from 4,829 to 1,057; Libya, from 3,316 to 38; Oman, from 647 to 306; Bahrain, from 545 to 296; Lebanon, from 657 to 354; and Jordan, from 1,028 to 182. There are no OFWs being accommodated at the FWRCs in Greece and Saipan as the remaining OFWs sheltered in the FWRCs have already been sent home.

Only Qatar and Syria registered increases in the number of wards, according to the report, with OFWs at the FWRC in Doha increasing from 139 to 710, and in Syria, from 252 to 1,578.

Baldoz said the increase in the number of wards in Syria can be attributed to the civil war in that country. As to Qatar, Baldoz had already instructed Labor Attache Leopoldo de Jesus to submit a full report and an explanation of the increase.

Last January, Baldoz issued major policy directives on overseas employment that called for speeding up the repatriation of distressed OFWS, particularly women household service workers (HSWs) who comprise the most vulnerable workers in the overseas sector, and the transformation of all FWRCs into centers of excellence, saying “the number of distressed OFWs sheltered in our FWRCs reflect the work of labor attaches involving the verification of employment contracts and vouching for legitimate employers who really care for our workers”.

She also instructed all POLOs to reduce process cycle times (PCTs) with definitive deadlines by simplifying, streamlining, systematizing, and continually improving procedures and processes to make it easier for clients to transact business with POLOs, and to work very closely and maintain strong working relationships with counterparts in the country destination (labor, immigration, police, and other competent authorities) who are helping in securing the welfare and protection of OFWs.

Baldoz credited the reduction of the number of wards to these key policy initiatives, and said her hope is that these practices are sustained so that the aim of transforming FWRCs into “centers of excellence” will be realized.

FWRCs have been established in countries of OFW destination to provide relief for distressed OFWs through the following services: (a) counseling and legal services; (b) welfare assistance on

“W

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DOLE Good News

�July 2012

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz outlined some of the strategies

that she said the Department of Labor and Employment will continue to pursue this year and until 2016 that could sustain the general uptick in employment in the country and, conversely, the continuing decline in unemployment as mentioned by President Benigno S. Aquino III in his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“The President in his SONA spoke of the 3.1 million jobs created in the last two years as one of the reasons why the unemployment rate has gone down from 8 percent in 2010 to only 6.9 percent in April this year,” Baldoz said.

“This happened not without causes, and one of those was the DOLE’s persistent pursuit of the “overarching goal of investing in our human resources, making our workforce competitive and employable, while promoting industrial peace based on social justice,” she explained, adding that ensuring the presence of available skilled and competitive workforce was parallel to the strategy of attracting more investments that would create jobs.

The labor and employment chief further said that in the pursuit of this goal, the DOLE, with its broad mandate of faci l i tat ing e m p l o y m e n t , rolled out several reform programs and strategies that she observed have already gained momentum and taken roots.

One of these is career guidance advocacy geared towards improving the competencies and job-matching ability of the youth and ensuring that they are enterprise-ready in a knowledge-based economy.

“This had made guidance counseling relevant again. Through the country’s guidance counselors’ network, we have empowered high school students in making better career decisions and wise choices about their future careers,” Baldoz observed.

DOLE to sustain increased employment through effective labor market signaling and employment facilitation strategies, Baldoz says after P-Noy SONA

Underscoring the importance of career guidance, Baldoz said the DOLE has converged with the Departments of Education, Science and Technology, Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and the Professional Regulation Commission, as well as the representatives of key employment generating sectors, in

forging a joint commitment to prepare the youth for the world of work through t h e c o n d u c t of the yearly Career Congress, which has been institutionalized at the regional and national level.

“Our ultimate goal is to shorten the time for job seekers in looking for jobs and to minimize the jobs-skill mismatch,” said Baldoz.

Another reform, according to Baldoz, was making employment facilitation services more accessible and transparent to the general public through the enhanced PhilJobnet, the government’s official online job portal.

“Extensive and sustained promotion of the PhilJobNet and its uses have made

“The President in his SONA spoke of the 3.1 million jobs created in the last two years as one of the reasons why the unemployment rate has gone down from 8 percent in 2010 to only 6.9 percent in April this year.”— Sec. Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz

it one of the more widely used online job search, referral, and matching facility. By setting a target of 100,000 vacant jobs solicited, uploaded, and displayed by employers at any given time, DOLE regional offices, including the BLE which administers the PhilJobnet, have been constantly challenged to improve their coordination with Public Employment Service Offices, local and national government agencies, employers and employers’ organizations, and other DOLE partners,” the labor and employment chief said.

At the grassroots level, the DOLE has established the Skills Registry System (SRS) that enables local government units to improve the referral, employment coaching, training, and labor market information (LMI) services of the Public Employment Service Offices or the PESOs in the community.

“Through the wide scale implementation of the SRS, we will be able to capture the pool of available talents throughout the country. This particularly becomes useful for locating the needed skills that would match the available jobs in the key growth industries identified in the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016, especially now that the government is in the process of rolling out its infrastructure projects in identified growth areas nationwide,” Baldoz further explained.

The ingenuity of Skills Registry System is its ability to capture the ‘liveness’ of available skills at the community level, making the skills information accessible to establishments and industries needing them in the right place at the right time.

Finally, Baldoz said that the DOLE is aware that despite the significant gains in employment that have been achieved during the last two and a half years, there remain serious challenges, such as the prevalence of high youth unemployment and high underemployment.

“We need to address these challenges and we will definitely work harder to sustain the gains we have chalked up,” she said.

DOLE Good News

� July 2012

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said the administration of President

Benigno S. Aquino III’s goal of inclusive growth--which means that no Filipino citizen should be left behind and with everyone getting a fair share of the fruits of development--includes a national strategy that takes into consideration the participation and contribution of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the national development effort.

Speaking at the kick-off rites of the 34th Annual National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week celebration, held at the Ichikawa Hall of the Occupational Safety and Health Center and attended by over 600 leaders of the PWD sector, representatives of various government agencies, private sector partners, and PWDs themselves,

DOLE’s inclusive growth strategy takes care of persons with disabilities—Baldoz

Baldoz said there is a great challenge today to ensure that PWDs genuinely feel what the government is doing for them in terms of guaranteeing their fundamental freedoms, social protection, employment, and not being discriminated against.

“Ang Pilipinas, na lumagda sa United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ay tumutupad sa tratadong ito ng karapatang pantao at instrumento ng pag-unlad na nagbibigay ng pagkakataon sa sektor upang palakasin ang mga polisiya kaugnay sa mga napagkasunduang millennium development goals,” said Baldoz in her speech in Tagalog.

“Hindi ito nalalayo sa hangarin ng kasalukuyang administrasyong Aquino III na inclusive growth. Sa paglago ng bansa, walang dapat maiiwan. Dalawang bagay ito: ang paglago ng bansa na nanggagaling sa paglago ng kabuuang pagkatao ng bawat

EXHIBIT OPENING FOR PWDs. Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz (center), Executive Director Carmen Zubiaga (left) of the National Council on Disability Affairs, and President & Chief Operations Officer Joy Cevallos-Garcia of Tahanang Walang Hagdan, Inc., lead in the ceremonial ribbon cutting of the opening of exhibits for Persons with Disability (PWD) during the opening salvo of the 34th National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week celebrations held at the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) in Quezon City. Also joining the opening ceremony are Undersecretary for Social Protection Lourdes Trasmonte (3rd from right) and Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Recio (2nd from right).

mamamayan at sa paglagong ito, ang bawat mamamayan ay makikinabang,” she added.

She recalled that since R.A. 7277, known as the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, was amended in 2006 by R.A. 9442, the urgency has been greater to guarantee the basic rights, freedoms, and privileges of PWDs that improve and enhance their social standing and dignity.

“Every individual person, with or without disability, is unique. In such uniqueness, there is a potential. And that potential should be fully or optimally developed,” Baldoz observed.

She lamented though that there are still PWDs not being given the opportunity to fully develop and utilize their abilities, thus, hindering realization of their full potential and effective social and

DOLE Good News

�July 2012

economic participation on an equal basis with others.

“Thus, one of the goals of the celebration is to raise the people’s awareness on issues and problems faced by PWDs and to enlist public support for concrete efforts to better PWDs’ economic and social conditions,” she explained.

“Our aim is to galvanize further our advocacy efforts towards expanding and strengthening the rights of PWDs,” she observed, as she emphasized that the DOLE, as a member of the National Council on Disability Affairs, does its share of implementing numerous programs and projects for PWDs.

“One of our programs is the Tulong-Alalay Para sa Taong may Kapansanan or TULAY, which is under the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program. Since its inception, over 5,000 Filipino PWDs have benefited from the skills and

entrepreneurship training, common facilities, tools, jigs, and raw materials for livelihood projects offered under TULAY,” Baldoz reported.

In the formal sector, the DOLE vigorously pursues compliance with the law urging employers to hire more PWDs in return for tax privileges and other incentives. In the bureaucracy, Baldoz urged government agencies to monitor and report the number of PWDs under their employ in the interest of transparency, saying that the DOLE itself has over 30 employees who are PWDs.

Through the Social Insurance Fund contributed by employers and administered by the GSIS and SSS, the DOLE’s Employees Compensation Commission implements a social insurance program for occupationally-disabled workers. The SIF answers for claims of workers on work-related accidents and disabilities.

At present, Baldoz said the ECC is studying the possibility of putting under the coverage of the employees compensation program voluntary and self-employed workers or those in the informal sector, in pursuit of the inclusive growth strategy.

“To assist PWDs in their search for jobs, I have instructed the Bureau of Local Employment to make the PhilJobnet facility easily accessible to PWDs by lodging their skills and qualification profiles in the “skills for hire” category. The same should be true with the skills training of the TESDA,” Baldoz further said.

Baldoz expressed confidence that PWDs, as members of the labor force, have the capacity to contribute to national development efforts provided they are given the opportunity to cultivate their immense potential.

◄ Over 300 Dabawenyos, including PWDs, attended the Career and Employment Coaching Advocacy seminar at the SM City Annex in Davao, City. The event was led by the members of Davao Graphic Artists Association, one of DOLE 11’s successful PWD livelihood beneficiaries. Members of the association testified that life’s impediments should not hinder one’s capacity to become productively employed. Aside from the seminar, DOLE XI also conducted a special job fair for PWDs. Ten participating agencies opened 500 vacancies for employable PWDs. 69 applicant-PWDs were interviewed and 35 were qualified for final interview and evaluation.

▲ DOLE Regional Office No. 2 celebrated the 34th NDPR week by awarding P326,982 worth of livelihood assistance to 26 members of the PWD Association of Saguday, Quirino to boost their mini-grocery and snack canteen business. DOLE RO2 also extended its assistance to the computer shop and general merchandise venture of PWD Association of Cordon, Isabela, and the electronics servicing business of the Provincial Federation of PWDs in Nueva Vizcaya, as each PWD group received P241,421 and P70,000, respectively, for their livelihood activities under the DOLE’s TULAY (Tulong Alalay sa mga Taong may Kapansanan) Program.

▲ DOLE Regional Office 4-A listened to the Rondalla Ensemble of Paaralang Pag-ibig at Pag-asa, San Pablo City’s Special Education Center in celebration of the NDPR Week in the CALABARZON region. The 30 hearing-impaired students showcased their musical prowess during the NDPR Week culminating activity at the Riverview Resort and Conference Center in Calamba City. Another highlight of the event was the awarding of livelihood assistance worth P260,000 to the Visually Impaired Brotherhood for Excellent Services, Inc. of Cainta, Rizal for the purchase of starter kits for 52 blind masseurs; and P248,593.13 to Punlaka Regional Institute for Special People, Inc. in Batangas for their café project.

◄ PWD groups in the National Capital Region shared their ingenuity and craft at the Likhang PWD 2012 Artworks and Products Exhibit during the kick-off of the 34th NDPR Week celebration at the Occupational Safety and Health Center in Quezon, City.

DOLE Good News

� July 2012

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz reported that 113 designated

safety officers representing 117 bus companies are undergoing the Luzon-wide, five-day training on the DOLE’s Basic Occupational Safety and Health (BOSH) training program.

“The BOSH is a mandatory training being conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Center, an attached agency of the DOLE, to ensure occupational safety and health in all workplaces, be they bus companies or factories or air-conditioned offices,” said Baldoz.

It is a complete course on occupational safety and health (OSH) which includes good housekeeping, materials handling, machine, fire, chemical, and electrical safety, occupational health, and OSH legislation. Safety officers need to have BOSH training to have well-rounded skills and knowledge on occupational safety and health and to be able to implement safety and health measures in the workplace.

Baldoz said that aside from the provision of a part-fixed, part-performance-based compensation, social security benefits, and better employment terms for public utility bus drivers and conductors, Department Order 118-12, the Rules and Regulations Governing the Employment and Working Conditions of Drivers and

DOLE reform in the bus transport on occupational health and safety continues

Conductors in the Public Utility Bus Transport Industry requires that bus companies shall adopt, implement, and promote occupational safety and health programs consistent with the provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards and other related DOLE issuances to include the prevention and control of tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS, hepatitis B and drugs in the workplace. It also requires bus companies to organize safety and health committees in accordance with existing OSH standards.

Eugenio S. Portugues of Alabang Transport Services Cooperative, one of those who are participating in the BOSH training being conducted at the Occupational Safety and Health Center in Quezon City, said the training is an eye opener.

“Kailangan talaga namin itong training na ito para magkaroon kami ng safety and health program sa aming kumpanya,” he said.

OSHC executive director Ma. Teresita S. Cucueco, M.D. had reported to Baldoz that initially, there were only 95 participants from 88 bus companies who expressed intention to undergo BOSH training, but the number increased as a result of the DOLE’s extensive information effort on D.O. 118-12.

“We have received requests for additional training for the bus transport industry, so we decided to conduct the same also this July in the Visayas and Mindanao,” Cucueco said.

Secretary Baldoz said that based on the audits and consultations conducted by the DOLE’s regional agencies and attached agencies, the DOLE has customized the 40-hour BOSH training to address the issues and needs of the bus transport industry on work safety and health.

“The participants are being trained on fleet safety, safe driving practices, safety inspection, incident reporting and investigation, and transportation safety legislation. They are also given modules on housekeeping and materials handling, electrical and fire safety, healthy lifestyle and health monitoring,” Baldoz said.

She also revealed that based on the record of the OSHC training, even those bus companies that denied access to DOLE inspectors during the first week of implementation of D.O. 118-12 have sent their safety officers to train in BOSH. These bus companies are Princess Youhan and Chrisa Trans, Inc. and Jell Transport.

“The health of drivers and conductors is important especially as the safety of passengers is in their hands. We have to ensure that drivers are not under the influence of alcohol and drugs and that they know how to avoid ergonomic hazards. A healthy driver can avoid road accidents better than one who is sick or overly fatigued, said Executive Director Cucueco during the training.

ENSURING THE SAFETY OF COMMUTERS. Occupational Safety and Health Center Executive Director Ma. Teresita Cucueco, M.D., speaks at a Basic Occupational Safety and Health (BOSH) training for owners and representatives of bus companies highlighting the importance of work safety and health in the bus transport industry.

DOLE Good News

�July 2012

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said the DOLE Regional Office-

Caraga has followed through its earlier action against the worst forms of child labor when it converged with its partners and brought a package of assistance to 30 child laborers and their parents.

Baldoz made the announcement after receiving the report of DOLE Undersecretary Lourdes M. Trasmonte about the latter’s recent visit to Brgy. Balenguian, Jabonga, Agusan del Norte where she, together with Congresswoman Angelica Amante-Matba, DOLE Caraga Regional Director Ofelia Domingo, Jabonga Mayor Glicerio Monton, Balenguian Brgy. Captain Luzminda Degamon, Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns Director Chit Cilindro, and ILO Manila Office Director Lawrence Jeff Johnson, presided over the turn-over of eight (8) carabaos, or water buffalos, to the parents of the 30 identified children who were popularly called “batang kalabaw”, on account of their previous back-breaking work as log haulers. Their parents themselves used to haul logs to earn a living.

Five more carabaos, all female, committed by Rep. Amante and Agusan del Norte governor Erlpe Amante, to be released within the month, to bring the total to 13 carabaos.

“This was to make good our earlier promise to the parents, after we had “freed” their children and returned them to school, that the DOLE will come

BATANG MALAYA UPDATES: DOLE’s child labor-free barangay campaign

back to the community and provide them with livelihood assistance so they will not be forced to send their children to haul off logs,” Baldoz explained.

“The water buffalos were for the livelihood of the families of the child laborers. These will provide them means to earn so there will be no need for their children to work to augment the family income,” said Baldoz.

During the program, the former child laborers, aged 7 to 17 years old, most of whom are now back in school were given a fresh supply of slippers and t-shirts, as well as additional school supplies. A memorandum of

The DOLE Regional Office No. 2, which launched its Child Labor Free Barangay Campaign last 3 July at the Cagayan Robina Sugar Milling Corporation Chapel in

Sto. Domingo in Piat, has targeted five barangays to be declared child labor free this year, namely, Brgys. Bugnay, Pugo, and San Vicente, all in Tuao; Brgy. Sto. Domingo in Piat; and Brgy. Sampagita in Solana.

DOLE Undersecretary Danilo Cruz presided over the livelihood grant ceremony, where he personally awarded the package of livelihood grants consisting of five sewing machines, 11 sets of carpentry tools, financial grant of P3,400 each plus cooking equipment for four food processing projects, three sets of automotive tools, a barber/haircutting set, and two cosmetology sets to 26 parents of child laborers in the municipality of Tuao.

“The grants amounted to P250,000 worth of livelihood starter kits for parents of the 26 children who were working in sugar

In Jabonga, Agusan del Norte, DOLE and partners give parents of 30 child laborers 13 carabaos to help them earn, and keep their children away from hazardous work

agreement among the convergent partners, including the Philippine Management Association of the Philippines and the Regional Family Welfare Council which pledged P4,000 in regular financial support for the schooling of the children, were signed.

“Totoong kalabaw ang ipinamahagi natin sa mga magulang ng mga bata sa layuning mabigyan sila ng magagamit sa paghahanap-buhay. Ang kapalit nito ay ang kanilang pangako na pag-aaralin at paglalaruin nila bilang mga bata ang kanilang mga anak,” said Baldoz in Filipino.

FREEDOM FOR ‘BATANG KALABAWS.’ Thirteen (13) carabaos were given to the parents of identified “batang kalabaws” or child log haulers in exchange for their pledges to safeguard the freedoms of their children against child labor in Agusan del Norte.

DOLE awards livelihood assistance to 26 parents of child laborers in Region2cane plantations. The parents, who themselves were once child laborers, received tools and equipment that will enable them to start their own businesses and improve their incomes so they will no longer send their children to the farms, but instead keep them in the classrooms,” Usec. Cruz said.

DOLE Regional Director Atty. Sixto Rodriguez, Jr., who accompanied Usec. Cruz to Tuao for the hand-over of the grants, said the children-laborers’ parents had long wanted to send their children back to school, but were apprehensive because they needed to have other means of livelihood.

“So, we at the DOLE Regional Office, through the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP), have decided to provide them with this livelihood assistance in exchange for their pledge to send their children back to school and stop them from working in the sugarcane farms. This is one of our strategies in pursuing our Child Labor Free Barangay Campaign,” he said.

The implementation of Executive Order 366, or the

Rationalization Plan, involving the government bureaucracy two years ago had led to the separation from service of 104 employees of the Department of Labor and Employment.

Having lost their jobs and their regular source of income, they have, in their retirement, moved on and engaged in entrepreneurial activities, benefiting from the immense experience they have earned as DOLE employees.

They benefitted some more when, during a DOLE flag raising ceremony, the DOLE-National Capital Region gave 19 member-beneficiaries of the DOLE-Rational ized Employees Association (DOLE-REA) opportunity to improve their incipient businesses through grant assistance and skills training.

“If we are able to extend our support and provide livelihood grants to our external clients, the more that we should be able to extend this kind of support to our former co-workers who have spent the best years of their lives working for the Department and have given its clients unparalleled

service,” said DOLE-NCR Director Alan Macaraya.

Through a P475,000 livelihood assistance fund, the second batch of DOLE-REA member-beneficiaries each received P25,000 worth of tools and jigs which they can use in their livelihood projects, varying from a small piggery to mini-grocery to party-needs store, fruit vending, and mobile load stations.

Gracita Logenio, formerly of the Bureau of Working Conditions, said

responsibility with the government’s objective of providing mobility and skills development for PWDs based on the principles of equal opportunity, equal treatment, and integration into the community.

“We shall continuously coordinate with the DOLE in identifying deserving PWDs who are in need of assistance as we bring mobility right at their doorsteps,” Hernandez said.

Tears of joy streamed down Sammilyn Jed’s face as she received her very own wheelchair, her sole wish for almost 20 years. Going home with a dream fulfilled, she can now enjoy a mobile life through the gift of convergence. Her mother found no words to express her daughter’s gratefulness.

“Malaki ang pasasalamat namin sa handog na regalo para kay Sammilyn Jed. Kung alam n’yo lang, sobrang saya niya dahil sa wakas mayroon na siyang sariling wheelchair. Salamat sa DOLE at sa Dolefil sa kabutihan nila sa amin,” Fatima shared.

upon receiving her livelihood grant:

“Naiiyak po ako matapos kong marinig lahat ng sinabi ni Director Macaraya. Totoo po na pagkalipas ng 23 taon ng pagtatrabaho sa DOLE, hinahanap ko pa rin po ang pagsisilbi at araw-araw na pagpasok sa BWC. Nagpapasalamat po kami sa DOLE-NCR sa livelihood grant na ito”.

In July 2011, the first batch of beneficiaries composing of 27 DOLE-REA members have started their own individual businesses after the DOLE-NCR granted them with P675,000 worth of tools, jigs, and skills training.

“Take good care of what was given to you as we expect that your respective projects will turn out well and flourish. Learn accounting and bookkeeping skills, as it will help you grow your money and handle your business very well,” DOLE Undersecretary Lourdes M. Trasmonte advised the beneficiaries.

The succeeding batches will receive their livelihood grants as soon as they are able to submit their project proposals.

DOLE grants P475-K worth of livelihood programs and skills training to former employees

medical and hospitalization services; (c) information, advisory and programs for social integration; (d) registration scheme for undocumented workers; (e) human resource development; (f) gender sensitive programs and activities; (g) orientation program for returning workers; and (h) monitoring of daily circumstances and activities.

“With the continuous decline of OFWs sheltered at our FWRCs, the Centers can now focus on more productive endeavors for distressed migrant workers,” said Baldoz, adding that the DOLE is pushing through with the implementation of other reforms starting with the POLO accreditation and contract verification system. Other reforms to be implemented include TESDA

certification; enhanced pre-employment, pre-departure, and post-arrival orientation that improves training on the culture and language of the host country; employers and recruiters who use ‘repro’; and intensified illegal recruitment and human trafficking.

For returned or repatriated OFWs, Baldoz had this advice:

“We encourage them to stay put in the country because there are jobs and other non-wage employment opportunities waiting for them. If they remain in the country, we could better protect them. It will also minimize the social cost of being away from their homeland which could be higher in vulnerable occupations like domestic work.”

‘Wheels of hope’. . . from page 1 Fast repatriation . . . from page 2

TOKEN OF SERVANTHOOD. Robert Vargas, one of the 19 member-beneficiaries of the DOLE Rationalized Employees Association (DOLE-REA) receives his livelihood grant and a handclasp of gratitude from Usec. Lourdes Trasmonte and DOLE NCR Dir. Alan Macaraya. Also joining the awarding is FMS Director Neneth Garcia (1st from left).