Capiz fisherfolk avail ISLA livelihood aid
ROXAS CITY – Some 100 fisherfolk in Capiz have availed of the government’s Integrated Services for Livelihood Assistance (ISLA).
According to Capiz Labor and Employment provincial chief Ricardo Monegro said that the ISLA program has funded the training-cum-production on mat and bag weaving in Olotayan, an island community in Roxas City.
Monegro said that said livelihood assistance to the fisherfolks in said area is part of the government’s alternative livelihood augmentation program especially those whose means of livelihood were destroyed by typhoon Frank last year.
He added that the government, through the DOLE, has provided some P157,000 for the training and capability building of mat and bag weaving while the Save Olotayan Incorporated has also shared a counterpart for said activity.
The ISLA beneficiaries in Capiz were among the program recipients in Western Visayas who were provided assistance by the government.
Recently, the DOLE reported that some 750 displaced workers, unemployed and out-of-school youth, including their families in Region were provided emergency employment through the 18 projects funded under the Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (CLEEP).
Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito Roque cited the DOLE Region VI report which reveals that said beneficiaries received a total of P3.75 million from the stimulus package of President Arroyo which aimed at cushioning the effects of the global economic slowdown.
Roque said the beneficiaries were employed in various community work projects of local government units (LGUs) in Western Visayas such as in the construction of covered drainage system, repair of farm-to-market road and barangay health center, and construction of perimeter fence, among others.
He said that the CLEEP funds covered projects under the Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD).
Aside from emergency employment, the beneficiaries also received social protection coverage with PhilHealth. They also undertook retooling, in coordination with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), to prepare them for another employment after the projects completion.
"The intervention was short-term that's why beneficiaries were provided skills upgrading or re-tooling to prepare them for long-term employment," Roque said. (PIA/Jemin B. Guillermo)