More than P7 billion in cash and livelihood assistance were handed over to more than a million informal sector workers, farmers, parents of child laborers and fisherfolks under the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP).
According to the second quarter progress report of the Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns, a total of 1,062,499 informal sector workers have benefited from DILEEP, receiving P6,359,399,598.00 in grants.
Under DILEEP’s DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP) or the Kabuhayan Program component, DOLE provides grant assistance for the start-up, enhancement, or restoration of lost livelihood for disadvantaged (vulnerable, marginalized, displaced) individuals or groups in the informal sector.
A total of 36,846 workers, primarily from vulnerable groups such as the underemployed, parents of child laborers, and marginalized farmers and fisherfolk, received DILP assistance worth P707,187,360.00.
Of these beneficiaries, 27,128 established new livelihood projects, while 9,065 expanded their existing ones. Additionally, 653 were assisted in restoring their livelihood through DILP. At least 10,493 workers, or 28.48% of the beneficiaries assisted under the livelihood program, are from the country’s 4th to 6th income class municipalities.