Last May 2017, several residents of Barangay Talomo became part of the local government’s Cash-for-Work program, a national project under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The Cash-for-Work program is an offshoot of the government’s response to the clamor and queries of the people as to how they could extend assistance to those who have surrendered under Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s national campaign against illegal drugs. It is being implemented under the National Drug Rehabilitation Program, which was created, to undertake mechanisms to extend assistance, not only to those who have surrendered but also their dependents. The said program will have 3 Pillars: Pillar I is the creation of data for those who surrendered, Pillar II is the community-based rehabilitation, while Pillar III is about providing livelihood assistance.

In an interview with Gregorio A. Calamba, Bgry. Administrator of Brgy. Talomo, he stated that their barangay is blessed enough to be a recipient of the said program, in which 1,000 residents will benefit.

For Davao City, Talomo got the highest budget allocation for the said initiative. However, the program’s 1,000 beneficiaries in the barangay, were not all drug dependents, since during last year’s Operation Tokhang, only a few surrendered. Hence, the barangay local government unit extended the program to some other indigent constituents in their community. To facilitate this, a stringent background check was conducted to ensure that those who were chosen were indeed those who are in the direst condition, so as not to defeat the program’s purpose of helping those who are in need. Furthermore, many students of Talomo National High School also became recipients of the said project.

Mr. Trisha Angela U. Gales, a Senior high school student, said that the Cash-For-Work Program is very timely and helpful since the income that she got was used for her other educational needs and expenses, given that classes are about to start.

Each recipient is hired to work for a minimum of 10 days for 4 hours a day, with a daily pay of P238.00. Their work includes doing various tasks, such as, cleaning the streets and seashores, de-clogging the canal, trimming the plants and segregating the garbage materials in the community.

Barangay Administrator Gregorio Calamba added that Brgy. Captain Engr. Bendor Calamba was very grateful and delighted as to how the program was able to help their constituents. (Angelita C. Nacorda | Talomo National High School)