More than 220,000 unemployed Filipinos have been assured new jobs as government has invested a first tranche of P9 billion into its nationwide emergency employment program for poor and underprivileged workers who are expected to bear the brunt of the global financial crisis on the country’s troubled labor force, a top Malañang official announced recently.

Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban of the National Anti-Commission (NAPC) said the Arroyo Administration expects the multi-billion peso investment to immediately create jobs and employment opportunities for some 223,110 Filipino workers and 1,600 underprivileged families across the nation even as it spurs investments into the country’s agriculture, industry and service sectors.

“The jobs we are creating under the Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (CLEEP) will not only improve the country’s infrastructure, they will also assure the growth of rural enterprise, improve public healthcare and food security, and stimulate private investments,” Panganiban said.

He said many of the jobs to be generated under the first phase of emergency program are designed to hasten the pace of agricultural development in the country.

“We expect a slight increase in the volatility of food prices in the global market as a result of the financial crisis and factors such as global warming. This is why many of the projects under President Arroyo’s jobs program are intended to enhance our ability to produce and transport greater volumes of food across the country,” Panganiban said.

He said the initial component of the program will fast track key irrigation and farm-to-market road projects, as well as state-initiated efforts designed to improve waste management, environmental protection and manufacturing services nationwide.

“Financing for the program comes from government savings generated from the 2008 budget, as well as counterpart funds from local government units, among others,” the NAPC chief said.

A report obtained from the NAPC macro-policy unit indicates that the initial phase of the program will establish public facilities to benefit some 1.5 million Filipinos even as they improve services for 7,352 families; 353 business establishments; 222 cooperatives; 1,287 barangays and 9 agrarian reform communities.

Panganiban said NAPC manages the emergency program through 26 cabinet secretaries assigned by President Arroyo to oversee the implementation of the program in specific areas of the country.