Kidapawan City- As part of its continuing mandate to help vulnerable workers gain employment and entrepreneurial opportunities especially this time of the pandemic, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) XII through its North Cotabato Field Office (NCFO) conducted series of orientations on the EnTSUPERneur Program and Department Order No. 173-17 or the Revised Guidelines in the lmplementation of the DOLE lntegrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP) on May 17-18, and 24, 2022.

Three qualified transport cooperatives were identified from Cotabato Province, the Midsayap Van Transport Cooperative (Midsayap), President Roxas Transport Cooperative (President Roxas), and Mindanao Transport Cooperative (Kidapawan City).

Under the program, qualified individuals are entitled to kabuhayan starter kit projects with a maximum amount of P30,000.00, while group projects are pegged as much as P1,000,000.00 depending on the type of project.

“The Department continues to strengthen its convergence program with other national agencies like the DOTr to assist greater population of at-risk workers in the country like our transport sector, ” said DOLE XII Regional Director Raymundo Agravante.

Further, target beneficiaries qualified to avail of the said program are from transport cooperatives and non-cooperatives which include drivers, driver-operators, operators, and allied workers such as conductors, dispatchers, mechanic, and management staff.

The Office of Transportation Cooperatives (OTC) and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) were responsible in profiling the beneficiaries both transport cooperatives and individual workers, respectively.

To date, the DOTr has endorsed 618 beneficiaries from the transport sector in SOCCSKSARGEN with an allocation of P19,515,789.47.

EnTSUPERneur Program, is a joint project of the DOTr and DOLE which aims to provide alternative sources of income for public transport drivers and operators affected by the PUV Modernization Program of the DOTr and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. End/CDGamboa