LEGAZPI CITY, April 26 (PNA) — The Department of Agriculture (DA) Bicol regional office opens its internship program this summer for Bicolano students in support of the summer job program of the national government.
The one-month engagement distributes the interns, consisting of high school graduates and college students who will be enrolling for the coming school year, to the different organizational units of DA for them to be exposed to government operations, institutional tasks and services, and civil and public affairs.
Moreover, each of them will be given 100 percent of the government minimum wage amounting to PhP 9,000 monthly to financially help them with their school fees.
The orientation program was conducted recently by the DA Human Resource Management Office.
According to Bettina Belen, DA Information Office staff member, the objective of this program is not only to extend possible financial assistance but also to channel the youth’s energy into worthwhile activities.
DA Regional Executive Director Abelardo Bragas said that “agricultural growth must be greater than population growth.”
Thus, he encouraged the interns to be among the drivers that will push the improvement of the rural community for the betterment of the country.
This program is similar to the Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES) being implemented by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) mandated under Republic Act No. 9547, otherwise known as “An Act To Help Poor But Deserving Students Pursue Their Education By Encouraging Their Employment During Summer and/or Christmas Vacations, Through Incentives Granted to Employers, Allowing Them to Pay Only Sixty Per Centum of Their Salaries or Wages and The Forty Per Centum Through Education Vouchers To Be Paid By the Government, Prohibiting and Penalizing The Filing of Fraudulent and Fictitious Claims, and For Other Purposes.”
Under this law, the Secretary of Labor and Employment is designated program director of the SPES.(PNA)