The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a proposal mandating the government to provide employment assistance to qualified heads of families or unmarried, single adult members of qualified poor households in rural areas.
House Bill 5672 or the proposed “Rural Employment Assistance Act” of Rep. Christopher Co of Ako-Bicol party list, provides for the program that would be similar to the dole program of the Aquino administration dubbed as the cash for work program” of the Social Welfare and Development department.
“The bill is envisioned to arrest the growing unemployment rate in the country which is highest in the ASEAN region. But above anything else, it is designed to make our rural poor productive in order to uplift their lives and their families as well as to spur economic growth in their communities,” said Co, a vice chair of the House Committee on Globalization and WTO.
The measure acknowledged the declared policy of the State to promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity of the nation and free the people from poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality of life for all.
The measure mandates the DSWD to establish and implement the REAP, in coordination with the local government units (LGUs). The REAP shall provide temporary employment to every qualified head of family or an unmarried, single adult member of qualified poor family in rural areas who volunteers to do unskilled manual work for a minimum of 45 days but not more than 90 days in every calendar year.
Moreover, the DSWD, in close coordination with the LGUs and other concerned government agencies, shall conduct an assessment of all poor individuals and families in rural areas who signify interest to do unskilled labor to determine their eligibility to avail of the services and benefits under the REAP.
The bill provides that every head of family or an unmarried, single adult member of a poor family in the rural areas, who qualifies to avail of the benefits and services under the REAP, shall be entitled to receive for each day of work financial assistance equal to the applicable minimum wage set by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in the region.
Those qualified for the program will also be entitled to the coverage of mandatory social security benefits such as those extended by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) and the Social Security System (SSS).
Likewise, the DSWD, in coordination with the LGUs and other concerned government agencies, shall lead in the implementation of the REAP, particularly in project identification and in the implementation and monitoring of projects and activities, the bill provides.
“Projects and activities to be identified and undertaken under the REAP should be of the type and nature that can be completed in a specific period of time. These projects may include the following: Development, rebuilding/rehabilitation of agri-based livelihood assets destroyed or lost due to natural disasters such as desilting of irrigation canals, development of paddy dikes and rehabilitation of water impounding; Rehabilitation and or development of common service facilities which are being shared and used by poor families as production or consolidation centers/units such as post-harvest facilities and public markets; Development or rehabilitation of physical assets to open up access to natural assets where the former is necessary to bring out the products of poor families to the market such as farm-to-market roads, slope protection and bridges; and Protection of productive assets through mitigation measures such as mangrove planting/rehabilitation and tree planting,” Co said.
regulations for the effective implementation of the Act.