Tabuk City, Kalinga – Tabuk City Jobstart program beneficiaries of the Department of Labor and Employment get their allowances or stipend today, January 11, 2022.
In an interview with DOLE-Kalinga Integrated Livelihood Program focal person Lourdes Canseco, she said that Tabuk City is the second city in the region that received the program after Baguio city in 2016. Canseco explained that the program is done every six years.
“Sa CAR tayo lang [ang naging beneficiary], Tabuk City lang ang may Jobstart. Last year lang nagsimula dito sa Tabuk pero yan [JobStart program] nagsimula pa noong 2016, pero noon, hindi tayo kasama. Ang kasama lang is Baguio City. Yun yung first wave, yung second wave, tayo. [Maaramid daytoy] every six years.” Canseco explained.
Aims of Jobstart program of DOLE
Canseco said the program aims to provide the ‘youth with career coaching, life skills and technical trainings, and internships with employers.’
While the program offers the beneficiaries a meantime job during this pandemic where jobs are scarce, Canseco said it essentially equipped them with skills and necessary trainings that prepare them for regular employment.
“Malaking tulong [sa mga jobseekers] kase mahirap maghanap ng trabaho. Diba kung pumasok ka [maghanap ng trabaho] ang unang tatanungin sayo, may work experience ka ba? Ano yung na-acquire mong skill? Ang dami-daming tinatanung na lalo na ngayong pandemic na hindi kayo maka-attend ng mga seminars and everything. Diba ang hirap? Yun yung tulong ng Jobstart.” Canseco explained.
After finishing their Jobstart, Canseco said DOLE or PESO may assist them in looking for a job either in the private sector or in government offices. She added that they may also choose to stay in an office where they were assigned during their Jobstart if the employer wants them to stay and continue with their service.
“DOLE or PESO may assist them in getting employed. Pwede naman na deretsong employer nila. Kung nagustuhan ng employer nila yung performance nila, ipe-permanent na sila,” Canseco explained.
The beneficiaries and requirements
One of the requirements for JobStart applicants is that one has to be at least 18 to 24 years old at the time of registration or application.
Canseco said that they officially assigned their 59 JobStart beneficiaries to different offices in the city on November 16, 2021, and their job shall end on January 31, this year.
She explained that the grantees are employed for a minimum of four months and a maximum of six months. She said DOLE shoulders their salary, which is P300 per day, for their first 10-day life skill training and 2-3 months of technical training, while their employer will pay them 75% of the minimum wage salary for their 2-3 months internship.
The stipend they received today is their salary for the past two months from DOLE.
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