Cash-for-work pay set at P226 a day

THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Davao has set the rate for all Cash for Work (CFW) jobs at P226 per day effective January 2013 to ensure a standardized implementation of the government's program.

The standardization of the CFW rate was raised as an issue by international partners working with the different government agencies for the relief and rehabilitation of communities ravaged by Typhoon Pablo in Compostela Valley and in Davao Oriental.

"The CFW rate is 75 percent of the daily wage set by the Labor Department which presently amounts to P301 so the allowed CFW rate is P225.75 per day," DSWD-Davao Institutional Development Division chief Ma. Elena Labrador said.

She said, however, that the DSWD has pegged the CFW rate at P226 effective January this year for uniformity.

She said 25 percent of the minimum wage serves as the community’s contribution considering that they are rebuilding their own communities.

The CFW program is a short-term intervention program that provides temporary work to communities affected by food insecurity or disasters.

Through the program, she said, an identified segment of the population works on public projects including debris clearing, road repair and infrastructure rebuilding in exchange for cash.

Labrador said that aside from the provisions on making the regional daily wage as the basis of the CFW daily rate, the partners are also required to hire workers who are 18 years old or over.