La Trinidad, Benguet- For fresh graduates, the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Cash-For-Work (CFW) program serves as an opportunity for them to gain work experience, additional knowledge and hone their skills while finding future employment.
DSWD Field Office CAR through the KALAHI-CIDSS KKB-CFW or the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services Kapangyarihan at Kaunlaran sa Barangay Cash-for-Work recently concluded the payout for the salaries of college graduates from Benguet State University (BSU) and Mt. Province State Polytechnic University (MPSPC) for the January payroll. The first batch of program beneficiaries continue to work until the end of April 2024 and for the last batch, they will continue to work until May of 2024.
The implementation of the program for State Universities and Colleges provides temporary employment and short term cash support to college graduates of academic year 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. For a minimum of 45 days to 90 days’, the beneficiaries render service while being deployed to various national government agencies and local government units with Php 430 daily salary.
Twenty-three year-old Rubelyn A. Bisala from Benguet province, a fresh graduate of BSU applied for the CFW program through the call for applications from the University’s Office of Student Services.
Ms. Bisala shared how they were able to make ends meet upon her acceptance to the program in 2023. During that time, she was taking care of their mother who had undergone surgery. Being assigned at the BSU Library, she accepted the work seeing it is an opportunity to apply her learnings as a student and learn more on the work of Librarians.
“Daytoy programa ket opportunity ken nai-apply ko diyay course ko nga Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education. Mayat ta naka-adal ak iti work iti Librarian ken nakadwaak ni mother ko. (The program served as an opportunity and I was able to relate my course Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education. I was also able to learn about the work of Librarians and take care of my mother).”
She also expressed her gratitude to her immediate supervisors for their encouragement, patience and continuous guidance.
For Gladys Alibno, Ms. Bisala’s colleague and a native of Tuba, Benguet, she said she also opted to apply for the same program while waiting for the results of their Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers.
Ms. Alibno added being part of the program is beneficial for them. “This is a good program for us to gain experience. Since we are fresh graduates and we recently took the board examinations, we tried to apply for the CFW program while waiting for the final exam results. I was assigned at the Budget Office of the Local Government Unit of Tuba and through that experience, I learned to work professionally,” she said.
The program is also a means to support fresh graduates who are having difficulties in finding a job, earn allowance and not to be a burden to their families.
Nory Ann Chayuwan from Mankayan, Benguet, fifth child among eight children, opted to join the program, which for her served as a starting point in her work experience.
“Nu fresh graduate haan nga sigurado nga ada employment, daytoy cash-for-work ket pagalaan iti work experience. Ayaw din namin maging tambay, ada daytoy nga pagrugian mi ken pag-alaan met laeng iti allowance. (As a fresh graduate, employment remain uncertain, the cash-for-work is an avenue for us to have work experience. We also do not want to be a burden to our families. This is a starting point for us, and supported us to gain allowance),” she stated.
“Talaga nga nakatulong kenyami daytoy programa-financially ta siyempre graduate kami, awan maited iti parents nga allowance (The program aided us financially as graduate students, our parents also cannot provide us allowance),” added Kymlann Tayaotao from Kapangan, Benguet and a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Human Kinetics.
Justine Warrey from La Trinidad, Benguet shared the same sentiment of her fellow alumnus. With her experience in the program, she said she was able to work on paper works and conduct fieldwork in Manila, Atok and Mankayan in Benguet province and was able to obtain additional knowledge in their field of study.
As of March 12, 2024, the DSWD-CAR provided a total of Php 4 million cost of assistance for the salaries for the month of January 2024 of beneficiary-students of BSU and MPSPC.
The CFW program cut across all the major flagship programs of the Department namely: Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), Disaster Response Management Division, Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), and KALAHI-CIDSS. In the program, cash support is provided in exchange for the work rendered. The short-term intervention seeks to provide temporary employment to economically poor and vulnerable families. #DSWD Field Office CAR KALAHI-CIDSS Social Marketing Officer Lauren A. Alimondo
