Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz yesterday awarded a check of P1,468,098.42 to Zamboanga City Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco representing the DOLE's bottom-up budget (BUB) for emergency employment to victims of the recent Zamboanga City conflict.

"The amount is part of the P5 million in BUB funds which we have allocated for Zamboanga for the implementation of its Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program for Displaced Workers," said Baldoz, who was accompanied during her official visit to Zamboanga City by Undersecretary for Social Protection Ciriaco Lagunzad III and DOLE Regional Office No. 9 Director Sisinio Cano.

The amount of P1.4 million represents the salaries and wages of the second, third, and fourth tranches of the emergency employment, which will benefit 60 displaced workers per tranche, or a total of 180 workers. They will be hired with a minimum wage of P280 per day for 15 to 30 days to do repair work on government facilities, such as school buildings, health clinics, and barangay halls. They will be tasked also to help in food preparation and cleaning maintenance in evacuation centers.

Earlier, the DOLE regional office has released P989,240, also in emergency employment funds, for 106 workers displaced in the fishing and fish canning industry.

The DOLE regional office had also allocated earlier P489,440 for the first tranche of the livelihood program, consisting of livelihood starter-kits, which is another component of Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program for Displaced Workers under the DILP.

The livelihood starter kits, which will benefit 46 worker-beneficiaries, contain tools for sewing, carpentry, food preparation, and baking.

"The livelihood program will be complemented by training in production and skills training and upgrading," explained Director Cano.

In her remarks during the awarding of the emergency employment funds, Baldoz urged DOLE regional officials and its partners to strengthen their cooperation in the implementation of the emergency employment program to provide effective temporary source of income to Zamboange?os, especially those living in the crisis-stricken areas.

"Our goal here is to provide our displaced workers immediate relief from the calamity by opening up opportunities to earn, and at the same time, enlist them for the rehabilitation of their affected communities," said Baldoz.

The livelihood and emergency employment programs respond to Item No. 8 in the President's Social Contract with the Filipino People which calls for veering away "from government anti-poverty programs that instill a dole-out mentality to well-considered programs that build capacity and create opportunities among the poor and the marginalized".

These programs also respond to the Social Protection Chapter of the Labor and Employment Plan 2011-2016 which spells out the strategy of strengthening the community-based employment program, particularly the emergency employment component to create jobs that provide income to vulnerable workers and their families.