The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is targeting 12,000 graduating members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) for the series of job fairs that will kick-off on Friday (January 31) in the National Capital Region (NCR).
DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said on Tuesday (January 28) at least 147,000 household-beneficiaries are expected to graduate this year in the NCR based on the data provided by the 4Ps National Program Management Office (NPMO).
“These series of convergence of job fairs called the ‘Trabaho para sa 4Ps’ are intended for graduating 4Ps beneficiaries to make sure that they don’t slip back to poverty,” Secretary Gatchalian pointed out.
Secretary Gatchalian said the series of job fairs that are exclusive to graduating 4Ps members will be a joint undertaking of the DSWD, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and other government agencies.
“Each graduating 4Ps family is entitled to one working adult who will get employed through the series of job fairs for household-beneficiaries, whether they have become self-sufficient or they have no more eligible children for cash grants,” the DSWD chief explained.
The DOLE will be in-charge of coordinating with business establishments that are hiring new employees while TESDA will conduct upskilling trainings among 4Ps members to ensure that they have the needed skills for employment.
The one-stop-shop will include booths from the DSWD, DOLE, TESDA, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Philippine National Police (PNP), Social Security System (SSS), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and PhilHealth.
Upon registration at the one-stop-shop, the 4Ps beneficiary will undergo an orientation on how the job fair works.
The 4Ps members will then be given Php3,000 financial assistance each to pay for the required pre-employment documents such as NBI clearance, Police clearance, PSA-issued birth certificate and PhilSys National ID, SSS number, BIR-issued Tax Identification Number (TIN) and other similar requirements.
The 4Ps – NPMO will be holding this year a series of graduation ceremonies nationwide dubbed as “Pugay Tagumpay” for household beneficiaries who are scheduled to exit from the program, particularly those who have attained the level of self-sufficiency.
The 4Ps is the government’s flagship anti-poverty program that aims to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty by providing cash grants for the education and health of children below 18 years old.#
