Valmayor on GIP honorarium: Can’t afford

"It's very heavy for the city."

City Mayor Gerardo Valmayor, Jr. said the city cannot afford to shoulder the honorarium of 322 interns under the Expanded Government Internship Program (GIP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Each of these interns is supposed to receive P 14,000 as per the contract they signed in May. However, after the DSWD realized that they are short of budget, it was settled that whatever budget will arrive for San Carlos will then be equally divided among the 322.

Valmayor said that the local government can only hope that DSWD will still continue the program and will be able to pay the interns.

"We are still hoping nga sigehon to sa DSWD kay ilaha gud tong programa. Pero kung moingon ta nga ang city ang mosalo maglisod ta." Valmayor said.                 

The mayor explained that GIP is a program of the national government to help new graduates and give them a start-up fund for business. But the LGU can operate without their help as it had been operating for years without them. The LGU merely received the program.

He also said that he is willing to meet interns and their parents and listen to their grievances.

Asked about the complaint of a parent who came to NRWP that one of his employees prevented them from securing an appointment with him, the mayor did not comment and said that he was in a conference in Cebu last week.