News Release (Draft)Department of Labor and Employment 17 December 2014

Raising the bar in 2014 on employmentDOLEs SPES assured gainful employment to 179,784 youth with P491.48-M working budget

Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz yesterday announced that, as the year draws to a close, a total of 179,784 indigent but deserving student-beneficiaries across the country were provided short-term employment under its Special Program for the Employment of Students, or SPES, thereby, giving them the opportunity to earn money to support of their education.

The year 2014 will close with a strong performance of the DOLEs SPES in terms of the number of students given short-term employment opportunities and in the amount of public money allocated for the program, Baldoz said at the departments year-end press conference in Intramuros.

The more important thing, however, was the impact, in terms of knowledge and attitude that the students acquired from this important work appreciation and bridging program of the government, she added.

With the reinforced implementation of SPES in the regions, the DOLE definitely makes an impact in the lives of thousands of Filipino students who have no means but have the ability to pursue college education, Baldoz said.

Baldoz said the 2014 budget for the SPES amounting to P491.48 million is higher by 5.21 percent than the 2013 budget of 467.13 million, while the number of students assisted, who are called SPES babies, in the current year was higher by 8.78 percent than the 165,271 students enrolled in the program in 2013.

SPES 'babies' are mostly sons and daughters of poor parents who are given opportunity by the DOLE to gainful employment. Many, too, are school leavers or dropouts.

SPES, a bridging mechanism that enables student-beneficiaries to gain skills and workplace experience, responds to the Presidents 22-Point Labor and Employment Agenda which calls for the DOLE to work with relevant government agencies in enhancing social protection programs as well as the Emergency Community Employment Program (ECEP) to create jobs immediately so people can still have income to spend for their basic needs.

Under the SPES, students get paid a minimum wage, 40 percent of which is in the form of a voucher applicable for the payment of tuition fees and books in any secondary, tertiary, vocational or technical educational institution. The 60 percent is paid for in cash by the employers. They are also entitled to other benefits and privileges under the Labor Code.

From top-down, the regions have allocated the following budget: National Capital Region, P87.11-M; Region 12, P48-M; Region 7, P47.77-M; Region 3, P44.75-M; Region 4A, P33.76-M; Region 9, P30.47-M; Region 2, P28.06-M; Region 10, P27.40-M; Region 4B, P23.36-M; Region 11, P23.27-M; Region 6, P23.19-M; CARAGA, P18.04-M; Region 1, P17.49-M; Region 8, P15.41-M; Region 5, P12.91-M; CAR, P10.45-M.

The first half of the leading gainers in terms of student-beneficiaries reached are ranked as follows: (First) Region 10, with 116 percent accomplishment rate, or 13,129 beneficiaries of the 11,639 target for 2014; (Second) Region 3, with 115 percent, or 18,332 of the 16,000 target; (Third) Region 6, with 110 percent, or 10,264 of the 9,329 target; and Region 11, with 110 percent, or 6,606 of the 6,000 target; (Fourth) Region 1, with 107 percent, or 5,846 of the 5,446 target; and CAR, with 107 percent, or 4,541 of the 4,257 target; and (Fifth) Region 2, with 105 percent, or 15,230 of the 14,546 target; and Region 4A, with 105 percent, or 10,335 of the 9,819 target.

Comprising the second half are, as follows: (Sixth) Region 4B, with 103 percent, or 9,242 of the 9,000 target; and Region 9, with 103 percent, or 11,991 of the 11,639 target; (Seventh) Region 5, with 101 percent, or 6,545 of the 6,500 target; Region 7, with 101 percent, or 13,097 of the 13,000 target; and Region 12, with 101 percent, or 21,183 of the 20,970 target; (Eight) Region 8, with 99 percent, or 8,918 of the 8,970 target; (Ninth) National Capital Region, 93 percent, or 17,123 of the 18,448 target; and (Tenth) CARAGA, 91 percent, or 17,123 of the 18,448 target.

The SPES is an opportunity to enhance the employability of the youth, who will eventually be the next generation of the countrys workforce. More than giving the students gainful experience while earning some cash they can use when they go back to school, we want a long-term result of the SPES program by means of increased employment opportunities to the beneficiaries, Baldoz said.

Early this year, private sectors already started to employ poor students and out-of-school youth who deserve to go to school under SPES. They hired food service crews, customer touch points, office clerks, gasoline attendants, cashiers, sales ladies, promodizers, and many other positions. LGUs participating in the SPES assign the students to clerical, encoding, messengerial, and other computing jobs.

The DOLE highly considers the private sector as partners to reinforce the long-term impact of the program to our student-beneficiaries. Such partnership is borne out of their corporate social responsibility as they take part in helping more students," she said.

END/hjtg