MANILA, Philippines - The government added P30 billion more to its P300-billion economic resiliency package to fund its job generation program and infrastructure projects, a Malacañang official said Tuesday.

For the first half of 2009, the government is expected to generate as much as 1.5 million new jobs, mostly street sweepers and construction workers. With "best effort," three million new jobs could be created by the end of the year, National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) lead convenor Domingo Panganiban told reporters.

The government would need to spend P1.0 billion for every one million new jobs. This meant P3.0 billion would be spent if three million jobs were created this year under the Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program, Panganiban said.

"It will be a big dent to the reduction of poverty," he said.

The additional P30 billion was pooled from savings of government agencies and contributions from government-owned or-controlled corporations, he said.

It was presented to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during a Cabinet meeting early Tuesday afternoon.