BONTOC, Mountain Province - The provincial government here earmarked a total of P8 million from various local sources as an initial step to respond to the increasing unemployment problems in the different parts of the province to help improve the economic condition of people living in remote communities.
Mountain Province Gov. Leonardo Mayaen said the amount of P5 million will be available to be loaned out to jobless individuals who want to start potential livelihood projects so that they could have something to start up their respective businesses to serve as the source of their livelihood.
Also, Mayaen revealed that another P3 million was set aside for skilled workers to borrow should they opt find jobs overseas considering the difficulty of sourcing out the needed capital to bankroll their desire to seek greener pasture in foreign lands.
According to Mayaen, the possible beneficiaries for the P5 million livelihood fund are duly accredited organizations, cooperatives and unemployed individuals who want to venture into feasible income and job generating endeavours but they are lacking in sufficient capital.
Earlier, the provincial government allocated P7 million for the same purpose but it was discontinued because of alleged collection problems which rendered the funds no longer enough to help deserving individuals attain their supposed goals.
Mayaen pointed out that such collection problems in the past will surely be considered in the implementing guidelines for the program so that the same problems will not be encountered in the present livelihood program for the deserving individuals.
On the other hand, the governor added the amount set aside for the overseas applicants was resorted to after studies showed that the number of unemployed individuals continue to increase even with the interventions being implemented by concerned government agencies.
He claimed sending people abroad to work seem not advisable, noting some negative consequences, but he asserted provincial and municipal officials have to be practical given the proper advice, the negative effects could be minimized if not eradicated through the assistance program.
If the local government has the available means, Mayaen cited they could employ those who troop to their offices everyday begging for jobs, thus, the decision to come out with the livelihood assistance program to empower people to be productive rather than become headaches of the community.
