THE CITY government has released over P3.29 million in funds for the first payout of the beneficiaries of the Work for Davao program.
A total of P3,290,760 million was released for the first payout of the 831 first batch of Work for Davao on Tuesday, July 14.
They are those who lost their income during the anti-COVID-19 restrictions, and each received P3,960 for their first ten-day work from June 22 to July 3, 2020.
Work for Davao is an emergency employment cash-for-work program funded from the P169,944,000 Local Government Support Fund downloaded from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Norman Baloro, the program head, said the payout procedure at the People’s Park observed the minimum health protocols for everyone’s safety, with the help of the Public Employment and Service Office, City Social Welfare and Development Office, Public Safety and Security Command Center, and the Davao City Police Office,
The first batch of beneficiaries was required to bring their valid IDs and the 10-day accomplishment report.
According to Baloro, the second batch of beneficiaries ended their tenth day of work on July 14 and expected to receive their pay next week. Out of the 49,000 applicants, only 42,915 beneficiaries will qualify for the Work for Davao program.
“To come up with 42,915 na deserving, ato gyud to unahon tong based sa atong guidelines na retrenched, or until now wala pa nakabalik sa ilang work because of COVID-19 (To come up with 42,915 deserving applicants, we prioritized according to our guidelines, those retrenched and back to work until now because of the COVID-19),” he added.
A total of 1,612 applicants were qualified for the second batch of the program; 1,773 for the third batch; and, 3,022 for the fourth batch. Another 1,874 qualified applicants will be announced on July 15 at the Work for Davao Facebook page. They will start working from July 20 to July 31, 2020.
Around 18 batches are still up for evaluation for Work for Davao cash-for-work program.
Magtanom package
Meanwhile, the City Agriculturist’s Office (CAO) is giving out “Magtanom Package” to the residents of Barangay 23-C for food production activity while the area remains on lockdown.
City Agriculturist Leo Brian Leuterio said that the Magtanom Package is a special project of CAO to help the residents of Barangay 23-C cope with food needs and stay productive even during a lockdown.
“Aron matabangan sila nga naay mabuhat, naa pa silay paabuton na harvest, they are able to do food production. We believe nga makatabang ni siya sa ilang mental health while in hard lockdown (We want them to stay productive and have something to look forward to and do food production. We believe that this will help their mental health while in hard lockdown),” he said.
The package consists of a recycled plant container, planting soil, vegetable seeds such as ampalaya, okra, pechay and kangkong, and instructions on how to grow plants.
Five planting containers will be given to each individual, who will be identified by the barangay through the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO). The CAO targets to roll out the project next week.
