CITY OF SAN FERNANDO- Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) and village tanods cited the Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES) of the provincial government that prioritizes their families and relatives.
In the recent distribution of SPES salaries of the student-beneficiaries they were accompanied by their parents and kin who are BHWs and tanods.
Elisea Vitug, a BHW from Lubao expressed gratitude to the provincial government for her son was chosen as recipient of the program.
“Ngayon lang nasali ang anak ko sa programang ito dahil kaming mga health workers ang napili ni Nanay (Gov. Pineda) na maging priority. Maraming salamat po sa kapitolyo,” she uttered.
Jocelyn dela Cruz of Floridablanca noted the support of Gov. Pineda to help them send their children to school.
“Laging nagpapasalamat sa amin si Nanay (Gov. Pineda) dahil tinutulungan naming siya sa kanyang mga health programs pero ang totoo mas malaking benipisyo ang binibigay po niya. Tinatapatan po niya ng tulong ang serbisyo naming,” said Jocelyn.
Barangay tanods from Guagua said the Pineda administration knows the plight of the needy and underprivileged like them.
“Alam po ni Gob ang pangangailangan ng mga tao sa paligid niya. Malaking tulong po sa amin na mapasama sa mga working students ng kapitolyo ang aming mga anak,” they said.
Luningning Vergara, provincial manager of Public Employment Services Office (PESO) said Gov. Lilia Pineda directed their office to prioritize college students whose parents or relatives are barangay work force.
“The governor is very much aware of the plight of the barangay workers. Most of them are also from poor families. They also need assistance from the government,” said Vergara.
Gov. Lilia Pineda in her message returned the gratitude of provincial government to the BHWs and tanods that she considered working arms of the province.
“Without the BHWs the province health and social services will never reach the grassroots. Without the tanods the police personnel is not enough to watch our neighborhood. They deserve to be recipients of the program of the government,” Pineda explained
The province has a total of 1500 SPES beneficiaries receiving P6, 184 for a 20-day work.
SPES is a program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) implemented by the local government units (LGUs) to help poor but deserving students to pursue their education through summer employment. Forty percent of their salaries came from DOLE and 60 percent is being shouldered by the LGUs.
BY JENNA LUMBANG
