CLEEP employs more than 300,000 - PGMA

PIA Press Release 2009/09/25

CLEEP employs more than 300,000 - PGMA

Iloilo City (25 September) -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo revealed that the Comprehensive Livelihood Emergency Employment (CLEEP) program has given jobs to more than 300,000 Filipinos.

President Arroyo was in Brgy. Tiring, Cabatuan to open the 15000th Botika ng Barangay, a government initiative aimed to reduce the price of medicine to half of their 2001 prices and make them available nationwide.

In the regional media interview held after the opening of the BnB last September 24, President Arroyo said that Secretary Domingo Panganiban of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) reported that more than 300,000 have benefited from the CLEEP.

In October last year, President Arroyo launched CLEEP as a pro-active measure to protect vulnerable sectors that include poor, returning expatriates, workers in the export industry, and out-of-school youths who are threatened or hurt by reduced or lost income due to the global economic crisis.

According to a Malacanang report based on the NAPC data dated August 14, CLEEP generated 153,887 new jobs or 60.69 percent of the targeted 253,550 jobs for 304,933 individuals or 66.25 percent of the targeted 460,280 individuals throughout the country.

The Malacanang report further said that CLEEP used P7.3 billion of the 13.7 billion allocated by national agencies for the program.

Generating the most number of new job opportunities was the Department of Agriculture at 89,518, followed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources at 65,377.

During the said interview, President Arroyo thanked members of the House of Congress for supporting the enactment of the Expanded Value Added Tax Law as money generated from the measure was invested in human infrastructure and resiliency programs such as CLEEP.

The President added that the said tax reform measure also helped the country's economy become resilient against the impact of the global economic meltdown. (PIA)

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