DAVAO DE ORO – On October 11-15, 2021, the Department of Labor and Employment XI through its DOLE-Davao de Oro Field Office (DOLE-DOrFO) distributed around P7,000,000.00 aid for its beneficiaries in the province of Davao de Oro.

Some 1,500 residents of several municipalities in the province became beneficiaries of the Tulong Panghanapbuhay Para sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD), an emergency employment program for the displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers whose livelihoods were severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Each beneficiary received P3,960.00 after completing the 10-day community work in their respective barangays. Around 1,300 beneficiaries in this batch belonged to the Food Always In The Home (FAITH) Vegetable Gardening, a DOLE-DOrFO-initiated project that promotes food sufficiency and organic gardening. The beneficiaries were encouraged to grow vegetables in their backyards to augment their day-to-day food necessity.

Moreover, livelihood projects were awarded to parents of child laborers to augment the income of the beneficiary families and eventually support their children’s education. Some 165 parents of child laborers and group of Indigenous People in Brgy. Dalaguete, Montevista received the grant worth P650,000.00 for their chicken egg production, while 13 parents of child laborers in Sitio Maan, Brgy. Manat, Nabunturan received P325,000.00 for their kalamansi juice and kalamansi concentrate production.

The DOLE Livelihood assistance to parents of child laborers is a strategic response to prevent and eliminate child labor. Parents of child laborers are among the priority beneficiaries under the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP).

On October 13, 2021, OIC-Regional Director Atty. Randolf C. Pensoy attended the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Coordination Meeting with 28^th Infantry Brigade Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Danny D. Bustamante in Mawab, Davao de Oro. Lt. Col. Bustamante expressed his gratitude to DOLE XI’s programs and services, specifically the DOLE Kabuhayan and TUPAD-EEP, that were able to reach people in the far-flung barangays of Davao de Oro.