50 students start summer jobs in Dagupan City

Friday, April 15, 2011

DAGUPAN CITY -- Fifty students coming from poor families began their summer jobs last Monday, making them part of the very first batch of a summer job program participated in by the City Government.

But before they were assigned to different agencies, they were given guidance by officials from the City Government and from Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) during the simple program held at the Dagupan City Museum.

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Present were City Administrator Vladimir Mata, City Councilor Brian Lim (from whose budget the salaries of the working students will be charged), City Employment Service Officer Melita Malong, and Dole Central Pangasinan Field Officer Reynaldo Catapia and Sylvia Catapia who is in-charge of the Special Program for the Employment of Students (Spes).

Field Officer Catapia thanked Mata for responding to the agency's call to local government units (LGUs) for a tie-up regarding the program's implementation.

Under Republic Act 7323, the Spes specified that 60 percent of the students employed shall be shouldered by the LGU, while the 40 percent will be paid by Dole through education voucher, which will be given after the employment period and after all the required reports from the LGU will be submitted to them.

The original goal is to employ 200 to 500 students this summer to help them out with their tuition fees come June, Mata said. However, this did not push through due to budget constraints.

Meanwhile, the young Lim (who is the chief executive officer of the family-owned Magic Group of Companies) encouraged their students to take their summer jobs seriously as it is already an on-the-job training. This can be included later in their resume or biodata as a work experience.

The students were detailed at offices where their skills fit based on their college course.

Field Officer Catapia told the students to work hard and learn from this experience. Naming the student-beneficiaries as Spes babies, he asked the City Government that same students be employed next year and until they graduate from college.

"The National Government would really want to help you, and part of that assistance is ensuring that you work properly. We don't want to see what happened before. Some student-recipients did not really work or report at the designated offices, the LGUs reported for compliance purposes only. This is part of the program of Dole of giving career guidance to employees," he said.

As gathered from Dole regional office, the LGUs in Pangasinan that partnered with Dole in this 2011 Special Summer Program for the Employment of Students are from Western Pangasinan, Sual, Bolinao, Binmaley, Anda, Bani, Provincial Government of Pangasinan, Aguilar, Infanta, Alaminos City; Dagupan City, Sta. Barbara, San Fabian, Bayambang (Central Pangasinan); and Bautista, Laoac, Rosales, San Nicolas, Sison, Barangay Flores, Umingan, Asingan (Eastern Pangasinan).

The working students' employment is for 25 days. Catapia said they exceeded their allotted quota of 450 plus students.

Mata said the employment of said students will be of great help also to the city as there are a lot of activities with the ongoing Bangus Festival 2011. (Sunnex)