Around 21,000 previously unemployed or underemployed Filipino workers nationwide have found jobs through various government projects as the Arroyo administration invested an initial P424.5 million into its Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (CLEEP) over the past fifteen days alone, the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) has announced.

NAPC Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban said some 20,958 workers throughout the country have already found new jobs and employment opportunities in the repair and rehabilitation of public health facilities, watershed maintenance and environmental protection programs, and microfinance and cash-for-work projects, among others.

Panganiban’s announcement comes in the heels of President Arroyo’s instructions for all government agencies to consolidate and fast track all of their jobs and employment generation programs under the CLEEP even as the Arroyo government prepares to counter the effects of the global financial crisis on the country’s economy and labor force.

“The job generation and emergency employment projects under the CLEEP will benefit not only the workers hired but also their families and the communities in which they live,” Panganiban said.

A report issued by the NAPC macro-policy unit indicates that more than 800 households in 2,316 barangays throughout the country have already benefited from the infrastructure and various services produced through the government’s emergency employment program.

“The funds invested into the program from the second week of January to early February this year have come mainly from the savings of agencies such as the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Environment and National Resources (DENR), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Agriculture,” Panganiban said.

He said NAPC expects to announce the creation of more jobs for poor and underprivileged workers as more agencies complete their plans under the CLEEP. “We will keep the public posted on this matter,” he said.

He said the President is closely monitoring the planning and implementation of all projects under the emergency program.