DSWD’s cash-for-work benefits 15,000 Yolanda survivors

MANILA, Philippines – At least 15,188 Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) survivors from Eastern Visayas have already benefited from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) cash-for-work (CFW) program, two months after it was implemented on November 24.

DSWD secretary Corazon ‘Dinky’ Soliman said the program involved able-bodied survivors to help in relief distribution and to rebuild their areas.

“The CFW program is part of our early recovery efforts to introduce normalcy to affected families in the region,” Soliman said.

Beneficiaries are given work according to their capacity under the CFW – loading and unloading of relief goods, repacking, food preparation, cleaning of debris, coastal clean-up, canal dredging, communal gardening, and assisting in the inventory of damaged properties.

Each worker is paid a daily average of P260 for 8 hours of work. DSWD has so far released P22,055,766 for the program’s implementation.

Qualifications

Those who are 18 years old and above are qualified for the program. Beneficiaries must also be willing to be assigned to the department’s different relief and rehabilitation hubs in Tacloban City, Isabel, Ormoc City, Catbalogan, Guiuan, Basey, and Burauen.

The first few weeks after Yolanda, from November 10 to 23, DSWD also implemented a food-for-work (FFW) program which provides beneficiaries food packs in exchange for their help in repacking and distributing relief goods.

Other international organizations are also implementing CFW programs to help affected families in the region. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) targets to cover around 200,000 beneficiaries in their CFW program while the Tzu Chi Foundation gives P500 to each of its beneficiaries. – Rappler.com