By Rene V. Carbayas
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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)
