DOLE LAUNCHES FREE BIKE PROJECT

Hundreds of bicycles will be distributed to displaced workers in various points in Luzon in simultaneous launching of the Free Bisikleta (FreeBis) project of the labor department.

In Metro Manila alone, an initial 850 bicycle units will be given to beneficiaries pre-selected by the local government units.

FreeBis is a project under the Integrated Livelihood Program of DOLE meant to help ease unemployment by providing livelihood opportunities to workers in the formal and informal sectors displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The launch will be held in Manila, Muntinlupa, Mandaluyong and Pasig in NCR, and in Tuguegarao, Cagayan; Bacoor, Cavite; and Legazpi City, Albay.

For the National Capital Region, the beneficiaries will be given bicycle units that they will use as delivery riders of partner companies Grab and LalaFood; while group beneficiaries will be assisted in their livelihood undertaking that will cater to the needs of bicycle commuters.

The bicycle units in NCR will come complete with helmet, raincoat, water bottle, thermal bag and Android mobile phone with a P5,000 load in electronic payment application.

Underscoring the importance of strengthening partnership with the private sector, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said that expanding opportunities for displaced workers is possible by taking advantage of the ‘bright spots’ offered by thriving industries.

Bello will lead officials in the turn over of bicycle units to 256 Manila beneficiaries at the DOLE central office. He will be joined by Manila Mayor Isko ‘Moreno’ Domagoso. Another set of 190 beneficiaries will receive their bicycles in Muntinlupa, Pasig and Mandaluyong.

Also to highlight the event is the signing of a memorandum of agreement on the Freebis Project Convergence with Grab and LalaFood.

Bello expressed hope that other private companies as well as local government units will also partner with the labor department in the undertaking.