THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) on Thursday said it distributed over P1 million in livelihood assistance to at least 120 pedicab drivers and vendors in Intramuros.
In a statement, DoLE said it will also provide livelihood training programs to help the workers, whose incomes declined due to the dearth of tourism during the pandemic.
“DoLE implements productivity and livelihood programs which could raise the level of tourism and entrepreneurial services of Department of Tourism (DoT)-trained community tour guides represented by pedicab drivers, vendors, and tourism-oriented small-scale enterprises such as souvenir shops,” Labor Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma said.
The livelihood assistance program is carried out via a partnership between the DoLE and the DoT.
Mr. Laguesma said Intramuros, a walled city built during the colonial period, was the pilot site for the project.
“More communities in other parts of Metro Manila are set to benefit from DoLE’s livelihood assistance program,” he said.
The DoT has said that over a million workers in the industry were affected by the coronavirus pandemic. — John Victor D. Ordoñez