DOLE to employ Muslim interns from Marawi

CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-7 through the Government Internship Program has assisted Filipino-Muslims especially those coming from Marawi City.

DOLE-7 assistant regional director Roy Buenafe, in a press statement, said that this recent development is an offshoot of the series of meetings conducted by the DOLE-7 with the Muslim-Filipino Communities.

The meeting highlighted the department’s flagship programs and services that could be accessed and availed of by Muslim-Filipinos residing in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.

Under the GIP, the interns will be working for DOLE for six months while receiving an allowance or stipend equivalent to 75 percent of the existing minimum wage rate applicable in the area.

Apart from the stipend, beneficiaries are also provided with accident insurance for one year with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

 Beneficiaries will also be given Certificate of Completion after their internship period with the agency.

In the orientation, Buenafe encouraged the beneficiaries to give their best, withstand the challenges that they would meet along the way, and live by the region’s credo of giving immediate actions to assigned tasks in observance of the department’s "Serbisyo, Now Na Initiative".

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 underemployed workers from 28 barangays of Cebu City collectively received more than P10 million as payment for their wages and salaries under DOLE's Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) program.

 TUPAD is one of the two components of the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program, the agency's contribution to the government’s agenda of inclusive growth through massive job generation and poverty reduction. — MBG (FREEMAN)