DOLE holds reintegration service to displaced, informal sectors in Isabela City

By Rene V. Carbayas

ISABELA CITY, Basilan – The labor department in Isabela City held recently a reintegration service through Kabuhayan starter kits for Sabah displaced persons and informal sectors in the city.

The seven displaced persons from Sabah received a livelihood package with an accumulated worth of P55,680.00 and the eight informal sectors received a livelihood package with a total cost of P62,120.00 in a simple turnover ceremony held last July 23 at the Provincial Capitol lobby.

The displaced persons from Sabah received implements and paraphernalia for food processing, native snacks preparation and a pedicab. They come from the barangays of Tabuk, Kaumpurnah Zones 2 and 3, and the Malamawi island barangays of Diki and Carbon.

Meanwhile, the informal sectors served consist of parents with child laborers, locally displaced workers, people with disabilities (PWD), and parents of distressed children. Livelihood assistance was provided for food processing, native snacks preparation, sewing, carpentry, and therapeutic massage. They came from the barangays of La Piedad, Port Area, Aguada, Marketsite, Calvario, and from Malamawi island barangays of Sta. Barbara and Diki.

In her message, Provincial Administrator Tahira Ismael recalled the ordeal of the displaced persons during the Sabah crisis crackdown early this year.

She said “the local government understood their plight and what every displaced person went through as the team from them local government had helped them a lot especially during the influx of displaced ‘kababayans’ from Sabah.”

She recalled the fear that every person experienced in spite of the assistance provided by the local government, the military and police, and other government and non-government agencies.

“Hindi namin kayo pinabayaan at hindi namin kayo sinisisi dahil naghahanap-buhay kayo sa ibang bansa (We never left you and we don’t blame you because you were only trying to work abroad),” Tahira said.

She lamented, however, that of the thousands of displaced persons from Sabah assisted by the local government, only a handful had registered for the kabuhayan starter kits, but still thankful to the assistance of DOLE.

Engr. Wesley D. Tan, OIC-DOLE in Isabela City reiterated that the government is concerned at the plight of the returning Filipinos from Sabah.

“There is a holistic plan for you to be re-integrated to the community,” he stressed, saying that the simple livelihood assistance given by the government is an opportunity to start anew in life.

The DOLE Kabuhayan (DK) Starter kits Project is a livelihood formation strategy that is intended to bring about improved socio-economic well-being of workers in the informal economy, in groups/sectors with special concerns, and displaced wage workers (local and overseas) and their families.

The project will provide a livelihood starter kits consisting of a package of services that will enable the target beneficiaries to start quickly a livelihood undertaking and become self-employed. It aims to engage them in sustainable self-employment through easy to learn livelihood undertakings. (PIA9)