ZAMBOANGA PENINSULA—35 individuals coming from the poorest of the poor in Zamboanga Sibugay Province went home to their families with an exciting news of their job placement Tuesday (June 24). These individuals were hired on the spot by DSWD’s partner, the Gaisano Grand Mall in Ipil.

The DSWD facilitated a Livelihood and Employment Caravan in the province to ensure that the exiting households of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), a poverty-alleviation program under the DSWD, will continue to improve their well-being even after their exit from being beneficiaries of the program.

“This caravan aims to provide a sustainable support to the families so that once they exit the program, they will not revert to the lowest state of well-being,” DSWD-4Ps Regional Program Coordinator, Flordeliza A. Atuy said.

More than 206k households in Zamboanga Peninsula will exit in the 4Ps program by 2026. This is due to the RA 11310 or the 4Ps Law that allows only a 7-year residency of each family in the program. The law was signed and institutionalized by then President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in 2019.

Employment Facilitation

In today’s caravan, a total of 332 program beneficiaries were served and facilitated with employment assistance by the 4Ps. 152 of which are college graduates with the help of scholarships from other stakeholders, 89 are K-12 graduates, 9 vocational course graduates, while others are grantees (mostly mothers) who are looking for ways to sustain or improve their support to their respective families.

Prior to this, a pre-registration was conducted to account the 4Ps job-seekers in the said province. From this, the beneficiaries were profiled according to their skills and competencies for proper job-matching.

During the caravan, the DSWD also provided coaching and counselling sessions to the beneficiaries to prepare them for their interview with the potential employer.

Once hired, the HOTS (hired on the spot) beneficiaries were directly facilitated to comply with their requirements. Partner-agencies were invited to provide free assistance such as provision of free NBI Clearance for first-time job-seekers, enrollment to Pag-IBIG, SSS, PhilSys Registration, among others.

Lynie Q. Dahonan, a 40-yr-old mother of 3 from the municipality of Titay, shared her worry of being hired since she is already of age. But she worries more that once they will be removed from the 4Ps program, she will no longer be able to send her children to school especially that her eldest child is in college.

“Farmer ang akoang asawa. Importante jud na makahuman og eskwela ang amoang mga anak. Bisan ako gane naningkamot jud ko para makahuman bisag dala dala ko sa bata aron makakita ko og mas ok nga trabaho. (My husband is a farmer. It is important that our children gets a college degree. Even I, myself, strove to finish my education. I was carrying my child to school),” Dahonan said in an interview.

Dahonan was hired-on-the-spot as a Cashier at Gaisano Grand Mall Ipil. With a full smile, she flaunted her statement of success after getting hired.

“Thankful kay God og sa DSWD, na-hired ako on the spot,” Dahonan added.

 

OSS (One-Stop-Shop)

Other than employment facilitation, the DSWD-4Ps also facilitated a convergence caravan with various partner-stakeholders. Services included free haircut, dental services, free x-ray, livelihood services, among others.

The Provincial Government of Zamboanga Sibugay led by Gov. Dulce Ann K. Hofer supported the activity by providing cash prizes, sacks of rice, bags, and others to 4Ps beneficiaries. The good governor was represented by the Sir Almer Raagas.

Some exemplary beneficiaries of the program were also invited to give their testimonials about the interventions received and facilitated by the DSWD Angels in Red Vests. In the same venue, winners of the provincial Huwarang Pantawid Pamilya, Exemplary Children, FDS Hub competition, and Gulayan sa Barangay were awarded.

This employment facilitation activity will be conducted in all provinces in Zamboanga Peninsula particularly targeting the exiting households of the 4Ps.