Manila-The United States government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has successfully supported 500 Filipino out-of-school youth (OSY) to gain financial and entrepreneurial skills through a savings program.

Called the “Saving and Internal Lending Communities,” or SILC, these saving and lending groups are composed of out-of-school youth trained by USAID’s Opportunity 2.0 project and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) on technical-vocational skills as well as entrepreneurship.

USAID partnered with Catholic Relief Services Philippines to implement the savings and lending approach of SILC to give the youth essential skills in finance and business. The youth work with their peers to pool their resources, save up for their needs, and have a support group as they venture into small enterprises.

USAID Philippines Director for Education Thomas LeBlanc said that these interventions “provide the out-of-school youth with a solid financial foundation so that they can work toward their dreams of pursuing further education, applying for jobs, or starting their own businesses.”

The youth, organized in five cities, have saved a total of 620,000 since January 2021.
To date, these groups have loaned out P320,000 to support education, training, livelihood, and other emergency needs of its youth members. To celebrate the successful pilot, USAID hosted a learning event on May 9-10 in Cebu to look at the program implementation in the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Cotabato, and Quezon City.

As the host, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, who chairs the USAID-supported Youth Development Alliance in the city, acknowledged USAID as “a longtime partner in development” and thanked the program for “equipping the youth with the skills for us to be able to take on the challenges of the future.”

A youth member of a SILC group in Quezon City, Jerhom Trigosa, shared how the group used their funds to invest in a small business with local urban farmers. “We learned how to rotate and grow our savings through entrepreneurship. We took a loan from our group savings to invest and create pumpkin cookie samples. We wanted to help farmers in the community and also increase their sales as well as to promote healthier eating options.”
USAID is looking to sustain and scale up this approach and content through a partnership with TESDA, which has used its local and community-based training institutions to support the youth groups across the country.(PR)

CATARMAN, Northern Samar — The Department of Labor and Employment – Northern Samar Field Office (DOLE-NSFO, in partnership with the local government unit of Lope de Vega, distributed clothing and grocery packs to 28 child laborers during a community outreach activity called Project Angel Tree held in Brgy. Upper Caynaga, Lope de Vega, Northern Samar on May 10.

The gift-giving activity was made possible through the sponsorship of Care Learning Center and AM General Merchandise, private companies based in Catarman, Northern Samar.

DOLE-NSFO head, Engr. Primo N. Guarin, shared that the beneficiaries of the said activity are only a small fraction of more than a thousand child laborers profiled in the province.
“While we have already extended assistance to others in the form of goods and livelihood grants, there are many more who still need our help. We need more ‘angels’ to bring joy and hope to these child laborers,” Guarin said.

Project Angel Tree is one of the activities under the DOLE’s Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program which aims to build a community of sponsors or benefactors referred to as “angels” that is committed and supportive in providing social services such as food, clothing, educational assistance, and even work and training opportunities to child laborers and their families. (PR)

ORMOC CITY-Human error resulted in the death of a student while back riding a single motorcycle driven by a friend as he fell into the vehicle at about 1:00 am Saturday (May 20) in Barangay 44 Paterno Street in Tacloban City.

The casualty was identified as Tram Ashley Enage, 18, single, Grade 12 student and a resident of Barangay 74 Bliss 1 Nula-Tula.

Investigation conducted by the local police disclosed that Rossel Anamos, 26, who was driving the single motorcycle and Enage were traveling from Ninoy Aquino Avenue during rainy conditions and as they approached the corner of Paterno Street, the motorcycle lost traction and became unbalanced, causing the victim to be thrown into an electric post, incurring serious facial injuries.

While the driver also fell on the road and suffered a broken left arm and an injured left shoulder.
(ROBERT DEJON)

ORMOC CITY– A dead body of a man was found floating in a river in Calbiga, Samar with authorities have yet to determine the cause of his death.

The man, Esmeraldo Caburnay, 76, was fished out at the riverbank of Calbiga River in Barangay Polangi at about 4:30 pm on Saturday (May 20), the local police said.

The identity of Caburnay, who was from Brgy. Macaalan, also in Calbiga, was known by a friend after the municipal disaster risk reduction management office (MDRRMO) posted the incident on their Facebook account.

The police, however, have yet to know the circumstances of the death of Caburnay.
(ROBERT DEJON)