PH Gov't to Hire 6,000 Interns Affected by Taal Eruption

According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Thursday, it is targeting to provide emergency employment to 10,000 workers, who were displaced by the eruption of Taal Volcano. Funds were requested for the emergency employment program in 10 areas in Batangas, said Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III.

They have provided emergency employment assistance to some 10,000 beneficiaries in 10 municipalities in Batangas affected by Taal Volcano's eruption.

When DOLE went to Batangas, they extended assistance by way of providing them with emergency employment. They provided emergency employment to 1,000 beneficiaries per municipality affected by the Taal Volcano eruption.

They announced that DOLE would be hiring 6,000 government interns from areas in Batangas affected by the eruption of the Taal Volcano.

According to Bello III, the hiring of interns is under a government program that aims to provide temporary employment to affected residents and also help the local government units in the rehabilitation efforts.

Php 72.6 million was allocated for the government interns to be hired and placed in 10 identified areas in Batangas.

Each intern under the DOLE's Government Internship Program (GIP) in the affected areas of Lemery, Mataas na Kahoy, Agoncillo, Laurel, Talisay, Taal, San Nicolas, Balite, San Jose, and Sta. Teresita will be provided, said Bello III. These areas were hit hardest by Taal Volcano's eruption.

The government will choose an initial 1,000 emergency employment beneficiaries who will be paid minimum wage and will get personal protective equipment through the DOLE's Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program.

The residents will be tasked to clean up the mess created by the eruption then they will pay them for one month. Instructions will be carried out by the towns' mayors.

DOLE will pay them for one month, for now, amounting to about PHP72.6 million, the DOLE chief said.

The assistance of DOLE will be in the form of emergency employment under the government internship program.

According to DOLE, the interns will be engaged for 30 days and will receive a salary of P12,050, which is equivalent to the prevailing minimum wage in the region.

The goal os GIP is to provide short-term employment to the affected residents and at the same time, help the local government units in the rehabilitation efforts.

The residents will also be entitled to insurance coverage under the Government Service Insurance System.

The program is open to beneficiaries who are 18 years old and above who must have no work experience or with intermittent work experience, and at least graduates of high school/senior high school or its counterpart under the Alternative Learning System, or graduates of a technical-vocational course.

According to the Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) Director Dominique R. Tutay, the agency will employ the affected workers in the areas affected by the eruption through its Government Internship Program (GIP).

GIP beneficiaries will then be tasked to conduct the profiling of the workers, who were displaced because of the eruption and will qualify for emergency employment.