Marylou peddles cigarettes, snack items, and bottled water. She earned P350 per day at the max; sometimes lesser depending on the weather and the number of people on the streets that she meets while plying her trade. She also faces a lot of competition.

At home, Marylou also faces the daunting task of caring for an ailing fa-ther, whose daily medication for his high blood pressure eats up most of her mea-ger income. She is a family breadwinner and she struggles daily to ensure that she lives up to this role.

Such was the reality of Marylou’s life that when the Department of Labor and Employment chose her as one of 20 beneficiaries of its Nego-Kart Project in Maasin, Marylou welcomed her luck with a sigh of relief.

“I thought I would forever be in living a life of bleak poverty,” she said.

The Negosyo sa Kariton, or Nego-Kart Project, is a DOLE assistance program designed to help alleviate the plight of informal sector workers. Its target benefi-ciaries are mobile vendors who ply their trade in goods and services without the necessary business permits in sidewalks, buses and jeepney terminals, community markets, and other public places.

DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said that the ‘Nego-Kart’ Project is part of the DOLE’s effort to assist the unemployed and to improve the lives of many hard- working, but low-income vendors in the regions.

Leyteño snack and cigarette peddler earns more with DOLE’s P15K Nego-Kart

For years now, Marylou M. Dalida’s has been a familiar face on the streets of Maasin, Southern Leyte. Only 33 years old, Marylou’s sun-burnt face betrays her age, but shows her determined spirit to

pursue a good life through the only means she knew: peddling. “Essentially, the Nego-Kart project

provides vendors with assistance that will enable them to increase, upgrade, and di-versify their products and services, and market these to more buyers or custom-ers,” Baldoz said.

For Marylou, the Nego-Kart program re-ignited her dream of a better life. The DOLE, in partnership of the City Gov-ernment of Maasin as DOLE’s accred-ited co-partner, awarded to Marylou a vending cart worth P12,500. She also received P2,500 worth of items, which increased her limited inventory, which in turn increased her sales.

With a brand-new and packed Nego-Kart, Marylou now sells more items,

including canned soda, a variety of food and snack items, and even mobile phone electronic loading. She starts very early each day selling bread coffee and bread to drivers and passengers in the city’s transport terminals.

Now very mobile, Marylou is able to venture from place to place at any given time in her own cart and thus capture more customers. She has also become self-sufficient, unlike before when she had to regularly rely on credit. Her grow-ing vending business has increased her income to be at par with, if not over, that of a minimum wage earner.

“Sa bago kong kariton, ang araw-araw kong kita ay tumaas na sa P800 kumpara sa dati kong kinikita. Sapat na para mabuhay ko ang aking pamilya,” Marylou said.

With increased earnings, Marylou has been able to sustain the daily medication of his sick father. She has also been able to support the schooling of her younger sister in Manila.

“Nakabili na rin ako ng refrigerator para sa bottled water and soft drinks na itinitinda ko,” she said.

For Marylou, the Nego-Kart was a blessing. She now sees a brighter future and a life of dignity. She thanked the DOLE for the opportunity.

Marylou and her Nego-Kart.

DOLE Good News

� August 2011

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz wel-comed the announcement of So-

cial Security President and Chief Execu-tive Officer Emilio S. De Quiros, Jr. that the radio program of the DOLE Regional Office No. 5, “DOLE & SSS On-Air”, has been chosen as one of the awardees of the 1st SSS Balikat ng Bayan Awards for Ex-cellence in Journalism-Radio Category.

The announcement was relayed to Sec-retary Baldoz by DOLE Region 5 labor communications officer Raymund Es-calante through Regional Director Alvin Villamor.

“I congratulate Raymund and Director Villamor for this achievement. This is a reward for their hard work in ensuring that all DOLE programs and services are communicated adequately to our people in the Bicol region,” Baldoz said.

The Awards is one of the highlights of the 54th Founding anniversary celebra-tion of the Social Security System on 01 September. It aims to recognize the exemplary efforts of Filipino journalists and media organizations in helping the SSS fulfill its mandate by informing the

DOLE Bicol’s radio program wins 1st SSS Balikat ng Bayan Award for journalism excellence

public on issues, policies, and programs on social security, labor and employ-ment, and worker’s conditions.

DOLE and SSS On-Air is a weekly pro-gram airing from 9:00 A.M. to 10:00 N.N. ev-ery Friday over DZRC of the Filipinas Broad-casting Network. It is hosted by Escalante, who is known in the Bicol media circle as “Aksyon Man” and Romeo Vale, public infor-mation officer of the SSS in Legaspi City, who is known as “Romy Serbis”.

Villamor said the program started in February 2006 as DOLE on Air and aired

Readers’ queries, comments, and suggestions are welcome. Mail or fax them in, or call us at telephone numbers 527-3000 loc. 620, 621, 622, 623, 625, 626, 627. Our fax number is 527-3446. You may also visit our website: www.dole.gov.ph; or e-mail us at dole_lco@yahoo.com.

The DOLE Good News is published by the Department of Labor and Employment with editorial office at the Labor Communications Office, 6th Floor, DOLE Building, Intramuros, Manila. The views expressed herein are those of the writers and/or their sources and do not necessarily reflect those of the DOLE’s or the Philippine Government’s.

EditorNICON F. FAMERONAG

Director, LCO

Associate EditorFLORO L. FERNANDO

Staff WritersJOSE C. DE LEON

MARK JAIME L. CERDENIACELESTE T. MARINGKAREN R. SERRANO

MA. VERONICA R. ALMAZORA

Editorial AssistantsGIRLIE MARLYN E. ARCEMADELYN D. DOMETITA

Graphic ArtistGREGORIO I. GALMAN

PhotographerJOMAR S. LAGMAY

Circulation ManagerGIRLIE MARLYN E. ARCE

Contributing Writers

GENEVIEVE S. TATAD

GEORGE LUBIR, JR.

ARLY STA. ANA-VALDEZ

REGINALD B. ESTIOCO

JEREMIAH M. BORJA

DULCE AMOR L. LEDESMA

ANDREA JOY AGUTAYA

RAYMOND P. ESCALANTE

AMALIA N. JUDICPA

EFREN O. VITO

VIRGILIO A. DOROJA, JR.

JAZMIN O. CINCO

MILDRED DABLIO

JOY FLORDELIS CORDERO

CHARMAINE DAWN L. SONSONA

ANNIE TANGPOS

from 4:00 to 5:00 P.M. every Friday, co-hosted by DZRC’s production manager Jessie Magayanes and Escalante.

“It transferred to the 11:00 A.M. slot in 2007, and in 2008, Escalante invited the SSS’s Vale as co-host. The program became very popular and boosted the rat-ing of the station so that Mr. Magayanes transferred it to its present time slot,” Di-rector Villamor said.

“As a three-year old public service program, the “DOLE & SSS On-Air” proves that convergence in government information dissemination efforts works and can be successful in informing our clients, the people we serve,” said Es-calante.

“I express my whole-hearted thanks to the DOLE Secretary Baldoz, Director Villamor and Assistant Regional Direc-tor Irma Valiente, DZRC, and our listen-ers for this achievement,” he added.

Escalante and Vale went to Manila on 01 September during the SSS anni-versary celebration to receive the award consisting of a special Balikat ng Bayan plaque sculped by Filipino artist Dr. An-tonio Raymundo and a cash prize.

Escalante with his award

DOLE Good News

�August 2011

Biyernes ng hapon, ika-19 ng Agosto 2011, nang dumu-

log sa tanggapan ng Labor Communications Office sa Department of Labor and Employment ang mag-inang Leonila Lasian at Tina mula sa lunsod ng Calamba, Laguna. Bakas ang pagkabahala sa mukha ng dalawa habang tangan ang isang papel mula sa Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute.

Unang dumulog sa Pol-icy Center ang mag-ina para humingi ng tulong hinggil sa problemang kinakaharap noon ni Mi-chael Lasian, anak ni Aling Leonila at kapatid ni Tina, na isang overseas Filipino worker (OFW) sa Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Dahil sa na-kagawiang pagtutulungan sa pagitan ng policy center at DOLE, pinayuhan ng Policy Center ang mag-ina na tumungo sa DOLE-LCO upang isangguni ang problema ng nasabing OFW.

Matapos ang masusing panayam ng kinatawan ng LCO, napag-alamang si Michael Lasian pala ay nagtatrabaho sa Pepsi Company sa Jeddah. Ayon sa salaysay ni Michael kay Tina, matagal na raw siyang kinukursu-nada ng isang kasamahan sa trabaho na Bangladeshi. Hindi naglaon, nauwi na sa pisikal na pagtutuos ang pangungur-sunada kay Michael. Noong akmang susugurin si Michael ng naturang kasa-mahan sa trabaho, inabangan niya ito ng suntok.

Sa kasamaang palad, nabali ang ilong ng Bangladeshi sa pagkakasun-tok ni Michael. Sanhi nito, hinuli ng pulis si Michael kasama ang isa pang Pilipinong kasamahan sa trabaho, si Michael Pagkalinawan, na umawat lamang sa gulo. Nabilanggo ang dal-

awa ng pitong araw. Matapos nito ay pansamantala silang nakalaya sa piitan sa tulong ng kanilang supervi-sor. Bagaman ganoon ang nangyari, kinakailangan umanong magbayad ng halagang katumbas ng P180,000 si Michael bilang kabayaran sa pagpa-pagamot ng nakatunggaling Bangla-deshi. Kung hindi makapagbabayad ang OFW, muli raw itong ibabalik sa piitan kung saan siya ay parurusahan sa pamamagitan ng paglalatigo.

Agad namang nakipag-ugnayan si Mi-chael sa kanyang ina at kapatid sa Pilipi-nas upang humingi ng tulong.

Ibinigay ng LCO ang nu-mero ng telepono ni Labor Attaché Vicente M. Cabe ng Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) sa Jeddah sa mag-ina. Ito ay mabi-lis na ipinaalam ni Tina sa kapatid sa pamamagitan ng text message at wala pang limang minuto ay nakausap na ni Michael ang nasabing opisyal ng POLO. Matapos ang pag-uusap ng dalawa, tu-mawag si Michael kay Tina at ipinakausap naman siya sa kinatawan ng LCO.

Ayon kay Michael, kina-bukasan, Sabado, ika-20 ng Agosto, ibabalik siya sa piitan kung hindi niya maibibigay ang nasabing halaga para sa Bangladeshi. Pinagbilinan umano siya ni Labatt Cabe na magsadya kinabukasan sa POLO-Jed-dah, na siya namang ginawa ni Michael. Sa pagtungo ni Michael sa POLO, may ib-inigay na liham sa kanya si Labatt Cabe para sa kanilang supervisor sa kompanya. Dahil doon, pinagharap ng supervisor ang Bangladeshi at si Michael upang ayusin ang kaso. Mula sa naunang halaga, nagkasundo ang magkabilang partido sa hala-gang katumbas na lamang ng P100,000.

Nakalap ni Michael ang nabanggit na halaga sa tulong ng mga kababayan sa Jeddah, pagbebenta ng kan-yang laptop, at tulong mula sa kanyang mga kamag-anak sa Pilipinas.

At dahil sa maagap na aksyon ng DOLE-LCO at ni Labor Attaché Cabe, si Michael ay hindi na ibinalik sa piitan at muling nakabalik sa trabaho.

Tumatanaw rin ng utang na loob si Mi-chael sa kanyang kompanya dahil siya ay binigyan ng panibagong pagkakataon upang makabalik sa trabaho. Sa kasalu-kuyan ay inilipat si Michael sa isang san-gay ng kompanya sa Jeddah upang makai-was sa gulo.

OFW sa Jeddah, nakaiwas sa mabigat na parusa dahil sa agarang tulong ng DOLE

TANggAPAN AT TANgguLAN. Handang makining at bigyan ng agarang aksyon ng Labor Communications Office sa Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-LCO) ang mga hinaing ng mga sumasangguning overseas Filipino workers (OFW).

DOLE Good News

� August 2011

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said the convergence of national and

local government agencies to maximize the use of scarce government resources work in many positive ways, citing the case of the Bolisong Women Winemak-ers, Inc. which is now a growing wine-making venture in El Salvador City, Mis-amis Oriental.

Baldoz, who visited El Salvador City recently and held a dialogue with city of-ficials and the members of the micro-cor-poration run by women, expressed admi-ration at the perseverance of the Bolisong women in pursuing their dreams for a better life.

“You are now a community-based live-lihood enterprise that provides employ-ment. Your next objective is to go into ex-port of your fruit wines,” she said, saying the company should serve as a model for women who would like to venture into self-employment undertakings.

Bolisong Women Winemakers, Inc. produces cashew, duhat, jackfruit, pine-apple, banana, ube, and watermelon wines carying the brand name Salvadore Fruit Wines, with a production capac-ity of 650 liters and a gross average sales of P27,000 a month (roughly P320,000

A fine example of convergence

With DOLE’s help, Bolisong women earns P27,000 per month making fruit wines

per year). Its production facility, measur-ing 20 by 15 square meters, is located in Brgy. Bolisong, El Salvador City. It has 15 skilled, six semi-skilled, and two train-able workers, all share-holders of the cor-poration. The company’s products are already registered with the Department of Health and the Bureau of Food and Drugs.

Nila Dominguez, the micro-corpora-tion’s president, said in an interview that while their wine-making business is al-ready making profit for its members, she said they still need to mechanize their process to raise production.

“We need a wine press which cost about P40,000,” she said. “Right now, our production is manually done. We extract the fruit juices by hand, which takes the whole production process three months before the wine can be sold,” she added.

El Salvador City Mayor Alfredo Q. Tan, who hosted Secretary Baldoz dur-ing the dialogue, immediately pledged to provide the amount for the purchase of the wine press.

Asked where the corporation will source out its seasonal raw materials for making wines when production capacity increases, Dominguez said Mindanao

has a huge supply of these materials. She said that at present the business enter-prise buys the juice extracts for its wines at P25 per gallon.

Salvadore Fruit Wines, which cost P180 per bottle, is sold in groceries, con-venience stores, cafes, and pasalubong centers in El Salvador City and Cagayan de Oro City. In Manila, the wines are found at the Product Depot.

Incorporated in 2007 with an initial P56,000 capital provided by the DOLE, the micro-corporation subsequently re-ceived assistance from different govern-ment and private sector agencies that converged to guide the 35 women mem-bers to its business success.

Over the last few years, the micro-cor-poration received various support in the form of capacity building, skills training, entrepreneurial development training, product development, and marketing as-sistance from the Department of Trade and Industry; financial assistance and entrepreneurial development training from the Agricultural Training Institute; capacity building, skills training, and fi-nancial assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development; capacity building and product develop-ment from the Xavier University Food Technology; capacity building, financial assistance, and skills training from the lo-cal government of El Salvador City; and proposal packaging assistance from the Masicap Foundation, Inc.

“The DOLE, through the regional office in Cagayan de Oro City, has ex-tended P400,000 in financial assistance in various dates to the Bolisong Women Winemakers, Inc. because we believe the enterprise is viable and profitable,” DOLE Region 10 director Allan Maca-raya reported to Baldoz.

To promote its products, the Bolisong Women Winemakers, Inc. participates in trade fairs. It has exhibited its fruit wines at the Kahimunan Mindanao and Salu-tabo Trade Fairs in Cagayan de Oro City and at the National Agraryo Fairs at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City.

The Bolisong Women Winemakers, Inc. is a national winner in the DOLE Liveli-hood Project, for which it was awarded P150,000 in livelihood assistance.

CHEERS! DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz (seated, third from left) together with other DOLE of-ficals raise their wine glasses to a toast recognizing the achievements of the Bolisong women (standing).

DOLE Good News

�August 2011

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz ex-pressed optimism over a DOLE

livelihood undertaking in Babatngon, Leyte that has led US Peace Corps to partner with Department and the local government unit to sustain it.

The livelihood undertaking is the In-tegrated Aquaculture and Bangus Cage Project of the Barangay District 1 Fisher-folks’ Association which, through DOLE assistance, now provides livelihood to its 31 members.

The Association was formally orga-nized on 03 September 2010 through the assistance of Peter H. Barlow of the US Peace Corps, through its Volunteers in Environmental Protection/USAID. The local government of Babatngon also pro-vided support to the project.

Babatngon is a 5th class municipality in Northern Leyte 40 kilometers north of Tacloban. Many of its residents depend on fishing for their livelihood.

The members of the Association, like many of Babatngon’s residents, are poor, earning an income of only P2,958.00 per month, much less than the monthly average earnings of P4,100 of every town resident.

Babatngon has a rocky shoreline and a 24-hectare municipal fish sanctuary, which is unmanaged. The sanctuary is 70 percent littered with bleached and dead corals re-sulting from illegal cyanide fishing and the use of active gears. Overfishing has rendered it unproductive, with poachers from nearby areas of Tacloban and Samar coming in and around the area. Without adequate security, fish diversity and quan-tity continue to decline, stripping the local folks of their livelihood.

To jumpstart the Association’s bangus culture project, the DOLE provided a grant of P396,080 and the Babatngon municipality provided another P56,000. On the other hand, the US Peace Corps provided USAID funds of P143,000 for the purchase of guard shack materials and supplies for seaweed culture.

With the seed capital, the members built an integrated aqua-culture facility consisting of fish cages and a common

DOLE and partners help 31 fisher folk make a living while protecting the environment

seaweed farm in a one-hectare area of the sanctuary. They also purchased ban-gus fingerlings and seaweeds for propa-gation.

That the business operation was de-signed to be very near the sanctuary serves a purpose. The constant presence of the members of the Association will enable them to conduct surveillance in the sanctuary which will pose as deter-rent to poachers and illegal fishermen. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Re-sources has, in fact, asked the local police to support the Association in the conduct of surveillance work.

“This project is very viable. It helps the beneficiaries earn better income while they help protect the marine environ-ment,” DOLE Region 8 Director Forter S. Puguon said.

Last 22 June, the officials and members of the Association planted 500 kilos of sea-weeds. Their initial harvest a month later reached 600 kilos, which they sold to TBK

Corporation in Tacloban City at P12.00 a kilo or an initial earning of P7,200.

Jorge Pontillas, Jr., the Association president, was very happy. “We cannot yet describe the full impact of the project on our lives since we are only starting, but this is a good start,” he said in the vernacular.

“We are already earning additional in-come. We are learning our skills on ban-gus and seaweeds production,” he said.

At the moment, the Association is con-structing two bangus cages. Once these are finished, they intend to raise 5,000 bangus fingerlings, which they foresee will earn them gross revenue of P500,000 once grown up, harvested, and sold in Babatngon and Tacloban.

Aside from the financial grant, Direc-tor Puguon said the DOLE will provide technical training on production, business and productivity improvement, workers’ safety and health, and social protection. In the first week of August, the DOLE’s National Maritime Polytechnic con-ducted a training on safety at sea for the members, while the DOLE is set to also train them on project preparation and en-trepreneurship appreciation course.

“We will also see to it that the proj-ect is sustained long after the US Peace Corps has left,” he said. The association is guided by a project management team, composed of officials of the local gov-ernment unit, that monitors and assesses the project’s status. The team also checks if the implementation is in line with the policies set by the donor and the Asso-ciation.

BOOST TO THE ENVI-RONMENT. Babatngon fisherfolk were the bene-ficiaries of a DOLE-assist-ed aqua-culture project consisting of fish cages and seaweed farm to dis-suade them from illegal fishing.

DOLE Good News

� August 2011

The Department of La-bor and Employment (DOLE) Regional Of-

fice No. 9 sees more tourists coming to Zamboanga del Norte through a public-pri-vate partnership initiative, the 3Y pro-gram.

DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Dimapi-lis-Baldoz, citing a report of DOLE Re-gional Office No. 9 Director Ponciano Ligutom, said the leading effort of the DOLE in initiating the convergence of national and local government agencies, the academe, and other local partners in the recently launched One Locality, One Industry, One Service Quality or the 3Y program, will boost opportunities to-wards increased workers’ employability, productivity, and service quality in Zam-boanga del Norte’s tourism industry.

“I am pleased that our partner agencies and local government units in Zambo-anga del Norte have converged and com-mitted to ensure the development and sustainability of the 3Y project. This is essential in ensuring the productivity of workers and enterprises, which will make the region conducive to job generation in the tourism sector,” Baldoz said.

The DOLE’s Project JobsFit’s 12 key employment generators and the Joint Foreign Chamber of Commerce’s 7 Big Winners both identify tourism as a sector that has the potential for absorbing most

In Zamboanga del Norte, DOLE eyes more tourists through 3Y convergence program

number of Filipino workers in the next 10 years.

Baldoz lauded the inter-agency con-vergence to promote the growth of the region’s tourism industry, saying that sustaining a favorable climate for both businesses and workers in the sector would generate more jobs for Zambo-angeños.

In his report to the labor chief, Ligutom said the 3Y program was an offshoot of the DOLE’s strengthened alliance with the region’s Departments of Tourism and Trade and Industry; Philippine National Police; Philippine Ports Authority; Civil Aviation Administration of the Philip-pines; Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pa-cific; other local partners both from the government and the academe towards the extensive implementation of the 3Y program to heighten eco-tourism in the region.

“The convergence with our partners is vital for the smooth implementation of the 3Y project as we all agree to a com-mon strategy towards local tourism de-velopment to propel inclusive growth, alleviate poverty, and generate jobs in the region,” Ligutom said.

Ligutom said the 3Y pro-gram is a mechanism to contin-uously raise the region’s socio-economic status through the promotion and development of Zamboanga del Norte’s tour-

ist hubs, which include the famous Dakak beach resort and the historical Rizal Shrine in Dapitan, City.

The 3Y program is chaired by Dapi-tan City Mayor Dominador Jalosjos and aims to promote a culture of productivity and service quality among local tourism industry workers — hotel and restaurant attendants, food servers and waiters, res-ervation officers, tour guides, and drivers.

Ligutom stressed that one of the strengths of the program is the capacity building and quality-service training pro-grams through Structured Learning Ex-periences (SLEs) in the industry’s various work areas.

The SLEs shall make use of experi-ential techniques to capacitate workers in tourism marketing and promotions; transportation, landing and passenger handling; accommodations; food and beverage; entertainment; tourist destina-tion activities; and peace and order.

“We have already started conducting quality-service training to tour-guides, air-port porters, tricycle drivers, tourist mar-shals and police to equip them towards providing error-free, quality services to guests and tourists,” Ligutom said.

CONVERgENCE MEETINg. DOLE Region 9 Director Ponciano Ligutom (in striped shirt, 4th from right) presides over the meeting of various national and local govern-ment agencies on the 3Y program which is expected to boost tourism in Region 9.

DOLE Good News

�August 2011

Demonstrating its invigorated nationwide environmental ad-vocacy towards strengthened

employment generation and sustainable community enterprises, Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Ro-salinda Dimapilis-Baldoz has lauded the efforts of DOLE Regional Offices 1, 3, and the National Capital Region in push-ing for local ‘green’ opportunities as each region recently awarded financial assis-tance reaching P1.6M to three (3) com-munity-based associations for their liveli-hood undertakings.

“With the DOLE’s greening initiatives, we want to empower more communities in developing and transforming their ex-isting livelihood into ‘green’ businesses, which will generate increased income and employment borne out of their in-genuity in maximizing their own natural resources,” Baldoz said, adding that the provision of the financial grant is in line with the DOLE’s Green Our DOLE Pro-gram (GODP) which aims to implement green workplace productivity programs and strategies in all the DOLE projects and services down to the grassroots level.

DOLE pushes for more ‘green’ jobs with P1.6M livelihood assistance to three community-based enterprises

Setting off a region-level green drive, DOLE Regional Office 1 awarded a check worth P500,000 to 30 members of the Youth with Disabilities Association (YAWDA) in Dagupan City. YAWDA is a product of convergence, being sup-ported jointly by the DOLE, Employers Confederation of the Philippines, City Government of Dagupan, and the non-

government organization, Breaking Bar-riers for Youth with Disabilities.

In a report to the labor chief, DOLE RO1 director Henry John Jalbuena said the YAWDA used the grant to purchase a briquettor, a charcoal mixer, and a dryer needed in the association’s charcoal bri-quette-making enterprise.

Aside from the financial assistance, the regional office, in coordination with the Forest Products Research and Devel-opment Institute, conducted a two-day training to educate

and equip the YAWDA members with the necessary skills to the successfully op-erate their charcoal briquetting business.

“Through the project, we are not only providing more green employment op-portunities to the youth. We are also preserving our forests by promoting the re-use of agroforestry wastes to generate profit-making endeavors,” Jalbuena said.

In Region 3, the DOLE Regional Of-fice made the same eco-friendly effort by granting P977, 000 to the Kawayan Aurora Association in San Luis, Aurora for its 50 members’ bamboo development and production project.

No less than DOLE Undersecretary Danilo P. Cruz, cluster head for Employ-ment, handed over the assistance to the Association’s benefactor, the Rural Em-powerment Assistance for Development Foundation, a DOLE accredited co part-ner.

“We realize the urgency and impor-tance of this project as most of the ben-eficiaries were families left homeless and jobless due to the series of landslides

and flooding that wiped-out the crops and other livelihood means in the area,” DOLE RO3 director Leopoldo de Jesus said in a report.

De Jesus said the bamboo develop-ment and production project is ex-

pected to generate job opportunities for Aurorans by opening sustainable

livelihood activities, such as bamboo nurseries and plantations; bamboo en-richment planting; and production of various bamboo products.

In Metro Manila, Baldoz hailed the DOLE- NCR’s efforts in promoting green alternatives to wage employment after the NCR- MUNTAPARLAS Field Office released a check worth P200,000 for the community enterprise of the Ka-buhayan ng Mamamayan Producers Co-operative (KMPC) in Taguig, City.

DOLE- NCR director Raymundo Agravante said the KMPC used the grant, under the DOLE’s Community-based Employment Program, to purchase 50 units of sewing machines to increase production of bags, slippers, doormats, Christmas decors, and other water-lily woven handicrafts, which is the KMPC’s main business.

“Our support to KMPC reflects our thrust to continuously provide ways to

I N C O M E - g E N E R -ATINg PROgRAM. DOLE’s GODP Program is gaining wide accep-tance as a means to increase the income of rural communities such as this charcoal-briquetting project.

To page 8

DOLE Good News

Exercising austerity in response to the Aquino government’s call for prudent budget management, the

Board of Nursing (BoN) of the Profes-sional Regulation Commission has decided to do away with the usual mass oath-tak-ing of newly-registered nurses beginning with the successful examinees of the July 2011 Nursing Licensure Examination, the Department of Labor and Employment has disclosed.

In a report to Labor and Employment Sec-retary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, Pro-fessional Regulation Commission (PRC) Chairperson Atty. Teresita R. Manzala said the BoN issued an official communication withdrawing its request for the usual inspi-rational and congratulatory messages from top government officials which would have been published in the traditional souvenir program commemorating the oath-taking

help disadvantaged workers move out from unemployment to productive jobs,” Agravante said, adding that the assistance will enable the business to prepare for its expansion project in all SM branches.

The KMPC is an organization of 50 home-based women workers engaged in water lily weaving. It sources its raw ma-terials from Laguna de Bay, where the indigenous resource – water lily – abun-dantly grows.

Recognizing the vitality of the DOLE’s GODP advocacy as a good employment

DOLE’s PRC cuts cost, does away with mass oath-taking of new nurses

of the newly registered nurses who hurdled the July 2011 licensure examination.

The BoN is a regulatory board for nurs-ing professionals under the PRC.

Manzala said the BoN decided to do away with the mass oath-taking of success-ful examinees, citing the current socio-eco-nomic condition being experienced by Fili-pino families, especially the income class where majority of the nurses belong.

“While the oath-taking is a requirement of law, the Board (of Nursing) decided to simplify it to save on costs and other ex-penses relevant to the holding of the tradi-tional mass oath-taking. The oath-taking ceremony, however, will still be undertak-en either individually, or by groups upon their registration for nurse licenses with the PRC,” Manzala explained.

Baldoz hailed the BoN’s move, saying “it sets a fine example to other government agencies to be practical in areas where ef-fective and efficient fund management are necessary”.

The labor and employment chief also noted that with the simplification of the oath-taking ceremony, the government will initially save thousands of pesos on print-ing cost due to the cancellation of the pub-lication of ‘souvenir programs’ which are traditionally part of the expenses accounted during such event.

Meanwhile, Manzala said the names of those who passed the July 2011 nursing licensure examination can be accessed by the public through the PRC website, www.prc.gov.ph.

strategy in the regions, Baldoz strongly reminded all regional offices to intensify both employment and livelihood efforts, anchored on the goal to create and capaci-tate a ‘greenbelt’ of community livelihood projects.

“We want a convergence of our live-lihood services with the promotion of our ‘greeneration’ strategies to efficiently utilize available resources towards devel-oping more income-generating and job-creating business undertakings across all regions,” Baldoz said.

DOLE pushes for more ‘green’ jobs . . . from page 7

MANZALA