MMDA to hire 250 students for summer SPES work program

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will be hiring 250 students for its summer work program under the government’s Special Program for the Education of Students (SPES).

MMDA Chair Emerson Carlos said those to be hired are students between the ages of 17 and 25 with the combined income

of their parents, including the candidates’ own income if any, not exceeding P138,247 each year.

SPES participants should have also received an average passing grade during the last scholastic term. They will receive a daily wage of P481. The MMDA work program will start on April 11.

Carlos said the SPES participants would be assigned to the various offices of the MMDA to serve as public service assistants, computer operators, communication equipment operator assistants, accounting clerks, and records clerk, among others.

The MMDA said the SPES participants would not be sent to the streets to do manual labor or direct traffic.

SPES, now on its sixth year at the MMDA, is mandated under Republic Act 9547 whose objective is to develop the intellectual capacities of children of poor families and harness their potentials.

“SPES is an opportunity for our youths to learn what it is like working in public service and at the same time provide them with financial means to continue their education,” Carlos said.

The program which will run for 22 days is being administered by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), aims to provide beneficiaries with an opportunity to earn money for their school tuition.

“We are doing this because we want young people to learn how to appreciate what MMDA has done and is doing,” said Carlos.

The MMDA will provide 60 percent of the SPES salary with DOLE defraying the remaining 40 percent. The MMDA last year hired 450 SPES summer interns.