Some 181 students who rendered services for Surigao del Norte’s town of Claver received their salaries under the Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES) on Thursday.

In a statement, the local government unit (LGU) of Claver said the students collected PHP5,000 each for the 20-day service they rendered from June to July this year.

“The SPES is an annual program of LGU Claver for employment of marginalized but deserving college during summer vacation,” it said, adding that the program aims to support the needs of the students for the regular opening of classes.

Mayor Georgia Gokiangkee led the distribution of the students’ salaries in a ceremony.

In its 2021 report released in June this year, the Department of Labor and Employment in the Caraga Region (DOLE-13) said the SPES is among the programs that made headway last year in terms of providing support to deserving college students.

The agency said 3,752 college students from the different provinces in the region benefited from the program in 2021.

Around PHP21 million was disbursed for the salaries of students in the region last year under the SPES program. (PNA)