President Arroyo’s mandate to provide livelihood and emergency employment to the country’s fisherfolk to help pump-prime the economy has been achieved in less than a year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) bared Wednesday.

The DoLE-Bureau of Rural Workers (BRW) said the Integrated Services for Livelihood Advancement of Fisherfolk (ISLA) program has now accomplished 97 percent of its target since it was first introduced in December 2008.

“From February to June alone, the program has already benefited a total of 5,528 fisherfolk, which is only short of 144 of the actual target of 5,672,’’ Rowie Grande, BRW senior labor and employment officer told the Bulletin. “A total of P30.5 million has been released for the program,’’ she added.

ISLA is part of the Comprehensive Livelihood Emergency Employment Program (CLEEP) of the Arroyo government seeking to stimulate local economy and mitigate the impact of the global economic recession.

The program was pilot-tested in Iligan City; Matinkao, Lugait and Inilao in Misamis Oriental; and in the coastal municipalities of Limay, Orion, Pilar, Bagac and Morong in Bataan.

According to Grande, the lives of the fisherfolk have changed for the better as they were provided trainings to enhance their production skills, and capital to acquire new fishing gears.

To ensure that efforts are sustained, she said the DoLE, in partnership with the regional offices and local government units (LGUs), continue to provide technical support either in the form of advisory or additional training that they (fisherfolk) would still be needing.

Asked if the DoLE-BRW intends to monitor or assess the situation of the beneficiaries after they were provided the assistance, Grande said, “we are planning to do that, probably next year.’’

The CLEEP was created after President Arroyo issued Executive Order 782, mandating all government agencies to allocate and use 1.5 percent of their budget for operating expenses for the temporary hiring of qualified displaced workers and their dependents.

The program targets or employs low-income and unemployed workers in various government projects. It also extends enterprise development services to workers who want to engage in small business enterprises.

Aside from ISLA, the DoLE also spearheads the Tulong pang Hanapbuhay Para sa ating Disadvantaged Workers program which benefitted a total of 11,504 displaced workers from the 145 projects launched in January.

Since 2008, DoLE data showed that a total of 158,253 unemployed workers have been awarded emergency employment, training scholarships and livelihood assistance under the CLEEP.