THE DEPARTMENT of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) are partnering to provide livelihood training programs and emergency employment to workers most affected by the recent magnitude 7 earthquake that rocked northwestern parts of the country.
In a statement on Monday, Labor Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma said the joint project aims to build a pool of construction workers who could be tapped by local governments for repair and rehabilitation work on damaged facilities, especially in Ilocos and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
“It will assist severely affected areas in Northern Luzon, specifically CAR and Region I (Ilocos), to rehabilitate the infrastructure, shelter, and cultural heritage of devastated communities, and implement emergency employment programs in affected communities to jumpstart their lives towards eventual normalcy,” he said.
The project will provide programs that will develop skills and competencies in carpentry, masonry, electrical wiring, and plumbing.
TESDA will finance the initial stages of the skills training program and will directly coordinate with local governments on rehabilitation projects.
The project also aims to mobilize the construction sector to employ displaced workers in the regions hit hardest by the earthquake, it added.
In an online briefing on Monday, DoLE’s Information and Publication Service Director IV Raul M. Francia said the agency has already released aid to Ilocos and CAR worth P31 million.
The Labor department has allocated P50 million for emergency employment and rehabilitation in the Cordillera and Ilocos regions. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
