DOLE entrepreneur grants for new graduates

MANILA, Philippines - Here’s good news for new graduates who may be having difficulty finding jobs.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is offering financial assistance to enable new college graduates to put up their own business.

Chita Cilindo, DOLE’s Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns director,  said the government is giving as much as P500,000 seed capital for young graduates to become entrepreneurs.

“The seed capital depends on the proposal but it ranges from P50,000 to as much as P500,000,” Cilindro said.

“What we are offering young graduates is a grant and not a loan, they would not be paying us back. All they have to do is comply with certain requirements,” Cilindro added.

Interested graduates aged 18 to 30 years can form a group of five and submit a business proposal with the endorsement from their school or local government unit. All DOLE regional offices nationwide are accepting applicants to the so-called “Youth Entrepreneurship Support (YES)” program.

Since the program’s inception two years ago, Cilindro said DOLE has already released some P7 million in financial assistance to about a hundred young graduates nationwide, mostly from Mindanao, to set up businesses such as Internet cafes or catering services.

Although the applicants can set up any kind of business, young graduates are encouraged to engage in agri-business.

Cilindro, however, admitted that only a limited number of graduates have availed of the YES program because some are having difficulty complying with the requirements, while others are not confident about putting up their own business.

“There were only a few takers for our offer, but we are still hoping more graduates would be encouraged to avail of this program which we initiated purposely to help the young and curb the country’s unemployment problem,” Cilindro said.