Mayor Maria Angela Garcia explains to the students the requirements to become SPES beneficiary. Photo by Ernie Esconde
DINALUPIHAN, Bataan — Some 1,200 college students from this town are poised to earn added income from the municipal government and the Department of Labor and Employment by planting vegetables, Mayor Maria Angela Garcia announced Monday.
This, after the students completed an orientation seminar on the Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES) last Saturday, municipal administrator Rollie Rojas said.
With a fund of P9.5 million good for 1,000 students, the mayor said she would request that the excess number be accommodated also so that no one will be left out. The local government unit shares in 60 percent, with the 40 percent coming from DOLE.
“Under the program, students will be required to work in the office under the LGU where they will be paid P9,500 for 20 days,” the mayor said.
However, due to the coronavirus disease pandemic, Garcia said they decided to have the students plant vegetables instead.
This is in accordance, she said, with the vision of the municipal government of making the town a model agropolis or model center of agriculture in Central Luzon.
“So ngayon, ang programa natin dahil ayaw nating lumabas ang mga bata para magtrabaho, pagtatanimin natin sila. Ipo–provide natin ang vegetable seeds at ido-document nila ang pagtatanim nila at pag-cultivate hanggang mag-ani,” Garcia said. “Ang aanihin nila ay para sa kanilang pamilya. Kumbaga walang sayang sa trabahong ginawa nila dahil sila rin ang makikinabang dito.”
The mayor said she wanted the students to learn the “value of hardship and equity” and “to feel the sacrifices of their parents in consonance with the core values of the municipal government anchored onrespect, responsiveness, integrity, courage and excellence.”
“So, meron nang Iskolar ng Bataan ang province, dudugtungan pa ng munisipyo at ng DOLE sa pamamagitan ng SPES, kaya mas madami tayong bata na matutulungan,” she noted.
There are thousands of scholars, many of whom have graduated and are now employed, under the Iskolar ng Bayan program began in 2004 by the late governor and congressman Enrique “Tet” Garcia, father of the mayor.
“Ang pangarap ng aming ama sa programang Iskolar ng Bataan ay sana sa bawat pamilya sa buong lalawigan ay may isang iskolar, isang bata, isang anak na makapagtapos hanggang kolehiyo para makatulong sa mga susunod pang mga kapatid na mag-aaral at sa pamilya,” Garcia said.
