BY VINCE JACOB VISAYA
SANTIAGO CITY (April 1, 2023)—At least 1,126 beneficiaries of the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (Tupad) program received P4.504-million payout at the Rosario Community Center in Barangay Rosario in this city.
The beneficiaries rendered 10 days of community work through cleanup and beautification of public roads and public facilities in their respective villages.
The Department of Labor and Employment Isabela Field Office (DoLE-IFO) and the Office of Isabela Fourth District Rep. Joseph Tan led the two-day payout.
In a message, Tan expressed his gratitude to the agency for “the continued support and response to the needs of the displaced and marginalized workers of the city, helping them recover and be able to provide for their needs.”
The DoLE-IFO was represented by Peczon Topinio of DoLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program and the focal person for the third and fourth districts in the province.
The Tupad program is a community-based package of assistance that provides emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers, for a minimum period of 10 days, but not to exceed a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work to be performed.
Meanwhile, the towns of Echague and Jones, Isabela held job fairs last week with the assistance of the DoLE-IFO to help facilitate the employment of job seekers.
The set of job fairs was held in celebration of Jones’ town fiesta and the Pinilisa Festival and the National Women’s Month Celebration led by the Mengal Women Organization Inc. in Echague town.
A total of 1,102 job vacancies from 43 companies were offered at the job fairs. Nineteen out of the 264 jobseekers were hired on the spot while 97 of them were near hires who will undergo a final interview with the respective companies.
As part of the DoLE’s employment facilitation function, Kathleen Aquino, senior labor and employment officer of the DoLE-IFO, said that the conduct of job fairs intends to promote the meeting of jobseekers and employers/recruitment agencies in one location or venue to reduce cost, time and effort, especially on the part of the applicants.
The aforementioned job fairs were also an avenue to conduct the agency’s Labor and Employment Education Seminar. Divine Grace Cristobal, senior labor and employment officer of the DoLE-IFO, discussed the topic of General Labor Standards to inform the applicants of their rights as future employees.