Bontoc, Mountain Province – Five Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) who are students of the Mountain Province General Comprehensive High School-Special Education (MPGCHS – SPED) Center were among the 60 beneficiaries who were employed this summer vacation under the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES) of the Bontoc Local Government Unit (LGU) in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
According to Labor and Employment Officer II Jenelyn Caluza, the SPES –beneficiaries have to complete a total number of 20 official working days excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays.
For the five PWDs from MPGCHS- SPED Center who were employed under the program, they were assigned in their school with their teachers as their immediate supervisors. The PWDs who are studying at the MPCGH- SPED Center have always been included in the yearly implementation of SPES. Meanwhile, the other SPES- beneficiaries were deployed in their respective barangays to help in the Clean and Green Program of the government and assist the teachers in public schools.
Considering that Bontoc is a second-class municipality, Caluza mentioned that the SPES- beneficiaries shall be compensated a salary of P446. 27 per day. Their wages shall come from the 60% share of the Bontoc -LGU and the 40% counterpart of the DOLE. The five students from the MPGCHS-SPED Center received P5, 355.24 each as their salary from the Bontoc LGU on July 27, 2021, at the Mayor’s Office of the Bontoc Municipal Capitol. The 40% counterpart of the DOLE amounting to P3, 570.16 shall be received by the SPES- beneficiaries through remittance centers.
Bontoc Mayor Franklin Odsey remarked that the program aims to help the students earn money and gain experience during summer break.
“This will help them in their studies next school year to be used for payment of their tuition fees and other needs in school. We have chosen students who we know will continue their studies next school year. We believe that the program will help them even in a little way,” the mayor added.
Odsey added that the PWDs were included in the program believing that they are one of the sectors of the society that should not be left behind, but instead be given equal opportunity.
The SPES, a yearly job generation program of the government, is intended to help poor but deserving students to pursue their studies by providing them employment during a vacation to augment their tuition fees for the coming school year. It aims to develop the intellectual capacities of children and harness their potentials for the country’s well-being. // Alpine L. Killa, Bontoc –LGU
