DSWD, DPWH to launch “Trabahong Lansangan, Pantawid Pamilya” for employment of CCT beneficiaries

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on September 5 will launch the “Trabahong Lansangan ng Programang Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino” program, which provides guaranteed employment to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, also known as the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program. The launching will be held at Barangay 649, District 5, Baseco Compound Covered Court, Tondo, Manila.

“The joint project is in line with DSWD’s convergence strategy to provide livelihood assistance and job opportunities to CCT households that will enable them to access social services and obtain their basic needs even after they receive cash assistance as CCT beneficiaries,“ Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said.

During the launching, DSWD Secretary Soliman and DPWH Secretary Rogelio L. Singson will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which provides that the DPWH will employ CCT beneficiaries nationwide for its unskilled labor needs from this year, until 2016. The beneficiaries will be employed for landslide maintenance, road maintenance, declogging of drainage laterals, and street sweeping.

For 2011, some 2,155 Pantawid Pamilya households will be hired under the DSWD and DPWH cooperation project for guaranteed employment. Of these, about 400 beneficiaries will be hired by DPWH-NCR.

Aside from the MOU signing, two newly organized Self Employment Assistance – Kaunlaran (SEA-K) associations, or SKAs, in Tondo will receive livelihood capital assistance that will enable them to set-up and manage microenterprises to augment their income. A total of 61,920 CCT households will receive capital assistance by December 2011.

The livelihood assistance and guaranteed employment program for the CCT households is considered as the exit strategy for the beneficiaries from welfare assistance to development-oriented support.

The DSWD will continue to establish partnerships with government agencies and the private sector for the livelihood and employment needs of the CCT beneficiaries.