MARIVELES, Bataan — Mitsumi Philippines Workers Union inside the Freeport Area of Bataan
here recently received livelihood assistance anew amounting to P200 thousand, this time for the group’s frozen food retailing business.
The livelihood project will benefit 1,072 union.members.
Jerry Borja, DOLE Region 3 information office chief, said this livelihood assistance was sourced from the Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF) fund under the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program or DILEEP.
DOLE Bataan Field Office head Leilani Reynoso explained that Mitsumi workers/union members
get to buy rice from the union on credit and lesser than the market.
“The union’s rice trading has more than P1.6M in assets and they do profit-sharing as well. Ang galing noh?. But wait there’s more, part of the earnings has also created employment for 2 workers earning more than the region’s prevailing minimum wage.
Now can you beat that?,” Reynoso said.
The group was the beneficiaries of a P500 thousand and P200 thousand DOLE livelihood projects in 2010 and 2014, respectively, through the Workers Income Augmentation Program or WIN-AP. –Mhike Cigaral