|
|
| Line 193: |
Line 193: |
|
| |
|
| ==[[Sorsogon News]]== | | ==[[Sorsogon News]]== |
| '''DOLE gives Sorsogon ex-cons a break in livelihood''' | | '''March 31st: Firms vie for 38 coal prospects…………March 31st: Nowhere in the mining map…………..March 31st: New Philippine Mining Rules Likely This Summer..''' |
| *Source: http://pnabicol.blogspot.com/2012/03/dole-gives-sorsogon-ex-cons-break-in.html | | *Source: http://philippineminingclub.com/news/march-31st-firms-vie-for-38-coal-prospects-march-31st-nowhere-in-the-mining-map-march-31st-new-philippine-mining-rules-likely-this-summer/ |
| *FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2012 | | *MARCH 31, 2012 |
| :by Danny O. Calle | | :by Amy R. Remo, Philippine Daily Inquirer. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| SORSOGON CITY, March 29 (PNA) – After walking back to freedom, 10 former inmates from the city jail here are now back to the mainstream of the society gainfully earning a decent living out of the assistance especially provided to them by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
| | The Department of Energy on Friday received 69 bids for contracts to explore and develop 38 highly prospective coal blocks across the country, considered an “overwhelming” number that proved investors’ unwavering confidence in the Philippines. |
| | | At the sidelines of the opening of bid offers Friday, Energy Undersecretary Jose M. Layug Jr. said the Philippine Energy Contracting Round 4 for coal attracted a lot of potential investors, of which about half were new players in the local coal industry. |
| These 10 are among the parolees and probationers selected for the Kabuhayan Starter Kit (KSK) project being implemented by the DOLE as part of the Aquino administration’s desire to make every Filipino, regardless of his or her standing in life a productive and self-sustaining member of the community.
| | Among the companies that submitted bids were Benguet Corp., Semirara Mining Corp., PNOC Exploration Corp., South Davao Development Co. Inc., SKI Mining and Empire Asia Mining Corp. |
| | | Layug said the DOE was targeting to award contracts within 150 days from the bid opening date yesterday, or by August 2012 at the latest. The coal blocks that had only one bidder will be processed faster than those that had six to eight bidders. For the coal blocks that did not have bidders, the DOE is set to re-offer these areas in future PECRs. |
| “Reborn”. This is how these people commonly called ex-convicts describe themselves now as one of them, Eugenio Canal Jr. of Barangay Bibincahan here on Thursday told the PNA in dialect, “this livelihood assistance awarded to us by the DOLE gave us an opportunity to start a new life after practically losing it behind bars”.
| | The offered coal blocks were in Quezon, Camarines Norte, Albay, Sorsogon, Masbate, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Bohol, Agusan del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Sur, Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga Sibugay. |
| | | Initially, the DOE offered 30 coal blocks when it launched the PECR 4 for coal in December last year. Should all the 30 contracts be awarded, the DOE is expecting initial investments to run up to P2.4 billion within a two-year exploration period. |
| Canal said he tried to get employed after his release from the jail on parole two months ago but every employer he approached turned him down on knowing that he is an ex-convict. He was convicted of illegal gambling and meted a six-month to six-year jail term but was granted parole after his good character showing inside prison.
| | The number of areas, however, were increased to 38 blocks in anticipation of a huge number of bidders. |
| | | Layug stressed the need for the country to harness its own coal resources given an increasing demand for the commodity, which now stood at about 12 million metric tons a year. Local production averaged 7 million MT, of which 3 million tons are exported to various Asian markets. Coal imports remained huge at 7 million tons a year, he added. |
| “I really wanted to start a new life and rise again as a man of dignity but it seemed no one would open a door for me to get into it until the DOLE came in and placed me under its KSK project. That made me realized that in times of social seclusion, the government under President Noynoy is there to help me,” he added.
| | It is expected that over the next 20 years, coal will remain the major fuel for power generation and the government continues to encourage the private sector to explore and develop the country’s prospective coal blocks to find additional reserves that can be used to address growing local demand. |
| | | By harnessing its own resources, the government believes that it will be able to push for energy independence that will allow it to reduce its fuel imports as well as lessen its vulnerability to global price fluctuations. |
| Under the project, Canal, a certified aluminum and glass fabricator, was awarded by the DOLE a set of tools including an electric drill that he is now using in accepting small work contracts in line with his skill.
| |
| | |
| Each of the other nine beneficiaries has his own skills like in carpentry, plumbing, mobile phone repair and troubleshooting, furniture making and house painting, among others and they were given the appropriate tools and portable equipments.
| |
| | |
| One of them, Rose Pamaloy, a lady “ex-con” who was once a beautician was given a steamer ceramic iron and other related paraphernalia while Roberto Francisco was awarded with a sewing machine for his sandal making venture.
| |
| | |
| The livelihood kits were personally awarded to them by DOLE regional director Nathaniel Lacambra during a simple rite done here over the week in coordination with the Provincial Parole and Pardon Office (PPPO) under the Department of Justice (DOJ).
| |
| | |
| During the affair, the DOLE regional chief said the 10 parolees and probationers who were carefully selected from among the hundreds of other ex-convicts in the city were given kits of tools in-line with their skills which they will use to put up their own source of livelihood without having to beg for mercy from local employers who are not really inclined to hire ex-convicts.
| |
| | |
| “Being an ex-con is very difficult. My driver before is an ex-con and nobody, even my wife, wanted to hire him as she found it hard to trust a criminal. But still, I gave him a chance in life so I still hired him. Well, I have proven most people, including her wrong as we found that driver the most trustworthy person we have ever met in our entire life,” Lacambra narrated.
| |
| | |
| “That fellow formally left us recently, more than eight years after serving us because he was able to save out of salary some amount to buy a passenger jeepney that he now drives. From time to time, that guy would drop by us to repeatedly express his gratitude for giving him the chance for the dignified life he and his family is now enjoying,” he said.
| |
| | |
| The livelihood kits given to the 10 ex-cons here, were worth a total of P65,000, according to Lacambra.
| |
| | |
| “These wares will save them from suffering the pain of rejection that often times ends to depression until they come to a point of committing another crime just to survive or out of anguish,” he said.
| |
| | |
| Case records of PPPO disclosed that the feeling of hopelessness and helplessness in dealing with daily life after being released from prison is the main reason why ex-convicts re-commit crimes.
| |
| | |
| The KSK intervention of the DOLE regional office will serve the backbone in realizing the full correction and re-integration of the convicts to the community as it will give instant hope in reclaiming their lost lives and livelihood, Lacambra said.
| |
| | |
| This goes through in partnership with the parole and probation office as “while we provided the funding and materials, the PPPO on the other hand will provide a simple business training to the beneficiaries and conduct regular guidance, monitoring and assessment to ensure that the tools given are put to good use”, he added.
| |
| | |
| The DOLE KSK project is a livelihood formation strategy that brings about improved socio-economic well-being of workers in the informal economy, in groups or sectors with special concerns and displaced local and overseas workers and their families by providing a package of services that enable them to start quickly a livelihood undertaking and become self-employed. (PNA)
| |
| dct/RSV/LQ/DOC/cbd
| |
|
| |
|
| ==Photo Gallery of Sorsogon, Philippines== | | ==Photo Gallery of Sorsogon, Philippines== |