MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur Feb. 1-- The Department of Labor and Employment in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DOLE-ARMM) will award this February livelihood assistance package to 147 displaced workers of the Mindanao Textile Industry (Mintex) - a textile and clothes manufacturing firm in Maguindanao that was forced to close down in 2009 due to the global economic crisis.
DoLE-ARMM Secretary Myra Alih said each of the former Mintex workers will receive a Kabuhayan Starter Kit or a livelihood package amounting to P5,000 that would include a startup capital and the supplies needed for their livelihood.
The business proposals of recipients all had to pass a feasibility study before they were approved by DoLE-ARMM, according to her.
Mintex was once the biggest exporter of textiles and clothes not only in ARMM but the whole of Mindanao. The garments industry was one of the severely hit sectors in the worldwide economic slowdown. At least a total of 1,600 workers of Mintex were left jobless when the company finally closed down in May 2009.
Alih said they had some difficulty in contacting the displaced workers since most of whom have either returned to their original hometown of sought employment in other parts of the country or overseas.
The livelihood package is meant not only to help the displaced workers but also part of our thrusts to encourage self-employment throughout the region, Alih said. (BPI-ARMM)
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