GOOD news for beneficiaries of the Government Internship Program (GIP) assigned with the Zamboanga City Government.
Vice Mayor Rommel Agan announced that Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) Secretary Silvestre Bello III has approved Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar's request for extension of the GIP program in the City Government for another three months.
There are at least 230 GIP beneficiaries assigned in several departments and villages of the city. Their three-month contracts expired December 31, 2019.
Agan met with Bello, Undersecretary Renato Ebarle and representatives from Dole-Zamboanga Peninsula in Manila over the weekend to personally relay the mayor's request.
Agan said that Bello approved the appeal with the assurance that the Dole will again provide P5 million for the GIP program of the City Government.
At present, the City Government is closely coordinating with the Dole regional office to determine the procedure in the implementation of the extension of the GIP program.
Dole's GIP is a component of Kabataan 200 under Executive Order 260-15, which aims to provide opportunities and engage young workers to serve general public in government agencies/entities projects and programs at the national and local level. (SunStar Zamboanga)