DAVAO CITY—The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has opened the biggest number of summer jobs, in Mindanao, at 1,411, for students and out-of-school youth across the region.
Secretary Muslimin Jakilan of the Department of Labor and Employment-ARMM said the agency has allocated P3.8 million for the program, where the labor department shoulders 40 percent of the salaries of the beneficiaries, while the employers—such as government agencies, local government units, private companies and other sponsor institutions—pays the remaining 60 percent.
“We want to help the students and out-of-school youth to earn money, which they can use to pay for next school year,” Jakilan said.
The registration for employment of applicants has already started and will end during the last week of March. Students work for a period of 25 days.
The program is open to all qualified high-school, college or vocational-course students, and out-of-school youth living in areas assisted by the ARMM under its special livelihood assistance program called ARMM-Health, Education, Livelihood, Peace and Governance and Synergy (ARMM-HELPS) program.
The regional information office said the ARMM-HELPS “is a development convergence initiative of the regional government covering 553 recipient barangays.”
“We prioritize those students who most need summer jobs,” Jakilan said.
A student applicant is required to submit the following: birth certificate; barangay clearance; certification by the school registrar, or Form 138, or original class card; certificate of good moral character; and parents’ income-tax return, which shows an annual income not exceeding P85,000.
For an out-of-school-youth applicant, a certificate of good moral character issued by their barangay will be required.
Jakilan said applicants may visit the DOLE-ARMM’s regional office at the ARMM Compound in Cotabato City, or the labor department offices in their respective provinces.
Meanwhile, in the Davao Region, the interior Compostela Valley province held its own jobs fair that saw the hiring on the spot of many applicants, including Armando Remedios, 40, a resident of Purok 6, Mainit, Nabunturan.
Remedios was among the 11 applicants hired immediately by Bachelor Express Inc., the biggest bus line in Mindanao and the Visayas.
Remedios said he used to work in the farm that earned him little. He filed applications for jobs conducted during the annual Bulawan Festival and Trade Fair last week.
The jobs fair organized by the province’s Public Employment Service Office gathered 12 local government agencies and four overseas agencies. National government agencies that participated included the Philippine Statistic Authority, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Social Security System, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.