TUGUEGARAO
CITY, SUMMER 2012 - One again, this year’s Sale in the City, a yearly summer
sale promo of the Lighthouse Cooperative in Tuguegarao City has engaged a total
of seventy (70) student-participants of the Department of Labor and Employment’s
(DOLE) Special Program for
Employment of Students (SPES) pursuant to Republic Act No. 9547, otherwise
known as “An Act Strengthening And Expanding
The Coverage Of The Special Program For Employment Of Students, Amending For The
Purpose Provisions Of R.A. No. 7323, Otherwise Known As The Special Program For Employment Of
Students.” The law allows any person or entity employing at least ten (10)
persons may employ poor but deserving students fifteen (15) years of age but
not more than twenty-five (25) years old, paying them a salary or wage not
lower than the minimum wage for private employers and the applicable hiring
rate for the national and local government agencies. It also provides a
specific sharing of salaries for the SPES participants as follows: Sixty per
centum (60%) of the said salary or wage shall be paid by the employers in cash
and forty per centum (40%) by the government in the form of a voucher which
shall be applicable in the payment for the students' tuition fees and books in
any educational institution for secondary, tertiary, vocational or technical
education: Provided, That local government units (LGUs) may assume
responsibility for paying in full his salary or wages. The amount of the
education vouchers shall be paid by the government to the educational
institutions concerned within thirty (30) days from its presentation to the
officer or agency designated by the Secretary of Finance (Section 2, R.A.
9547).
The Sale in the City is a project of the
Lighthouse Cooperative which aims to provide an easy and convenient way to shop
for school supplies at reduced prices and with more choices of goods, from notebooks
to school uniforms. The Lighthouse Cooperative, for this purpose has installed
booths for different items along its corridors inside the Jose Alma Arcade,
along Luna corner Taft streets in Tuguegarao City.
It has entered into a partnership with the DOLE so
it can help students earn some income during their summer break. The objective
of the SPES is to develop the
intellectual capacities of children of poor families and harness their
potentials for the country's well being. Specifically, the Program aims to help
poor but deserving students pursue their education by providing income or
augment their income through encouraging their employment during summer and/or
Christmas vacations. The SPES is open to all qualified high school,
college or vocational students or drop-outs and interested employers. /cds
