BONTOC, Mountain Province — The provincial government here earmarked a total of P8 million from local sources as initial step to respond to increasing unemployment in the province.
Gov. Leonardo Mayaen said P5 million will be available to be loaned out to jobless individuals who want to start potential livelihood projects so they could start businesses.
Mayaen also revealed another P3 million was available for skilled workers to borrow should they opt to find jobs overseas considering the difficulty of getting capital to bankroll their desire to seek greener pasture in foreign lands.
According to Mayaen, possible beneficiaries for the P5 million livelihood fund are accredited organizations, cooperatives and unemployed individuals who want to venture into feasible income and job generating endeavors but lack capital.
Earlier, the provincial government allocated P7 million for the same purpose but was discontinued because of alleged collection problems which rendered the funds no longer enough to help deserving individuals attain their supposed goals.
Mayaen said collection problems in the past will be considered in guidelines for the program so same problems will not be encountered.
The governor added the amount set aside for overseas applicants was resorted to after studies showed the number of unemployed individuals increased even with programs implemented by government agencies.
He said sending people abroad to work seemed not advisable, noting negative consequences, but he added provincial and municipal officials have to be practical through assistance programs.
If the local government has available means, Mayaen said they could employ those who troop to their offices everyday begging for jobs, thus, the decision to come out with the livelihood assistance program.
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