THE Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) has allocated P58.5 million worth of various livelihood projects for Negros Occidental set for implementation this year.
Of the total amount, P43.2 million is intended for the implementation of the Dole Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP) while the P15.3 million is the agency’s bottom-up budgeting (BUB) fund.
Ma. Zyrene Prietos, livelihood and child labor program focal person of Dole-Negros Occidental, said the DILEEP is a regular assistance given to disadvantaged members of the community as identified priority beneficiaries.
They are persons with disabilities (PWDs), parents of child laborers, unemployed, underemployed, informal sector, those with menial jobs, and the rural poor, particularly agrarian reform beneficiaries (Arbs), she said.
“This is an annual fund provided mainly to augment the livelihood of those in the marginalized sector,” Prietos said, adding that the allocation for Negros Occidental this year is still under Dole Western Visayas.
Dole-Negros Occidental intends to provide a maximum of P10,000 per capita thus, it targets to cover about 4,400 beneficiaries this year.
Prietos said the recipients are the ones proposing the kind of livelihood projects they need, and these are coursed through their respective local government units (LGUs), which will then submit the proposals to Dole for funding.
“We encourage beneficiaries to be organized groups so that the livelihood projects will be more sustainable,” Prietos said, adding that the agency also suggests entrepreneurial and agriculture-based livelihood projects.
The P43.2-million budget is still intact as most project proposals are still subject for review while some are already up for finalization and implementation next month.
For the BUB projects, Dole-Negros Occidental is also accepting project briefs for funding from LGUs, which identified the projects along with civil society organizations (CSOs) as beneficiaries, based on their respective Local Poverty Reduction Action Plan (LPRAP).
The agency is reminding beneficiaries of both programs to comply with the guidelines and requirements, particularly the submission of liquidations.
“We have been experiencing problems on liquidations thus, the agency is now strategizing the implementation of the programs,” Prietos said.