More than 14,000 workers in the Western Visayas have been adversely affected by the community quarantine that was implemented in the provinces to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019, Cyril Ticao, director of Department of Labor and Employment -Western Visayas based in Iloilo City, said yesterday.
Ticao said the 14,041 workers from 558 establishments in the region were displaced due to enforced flexible work arrangements and temporary closure.
He said that DOLE has put in place the Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program, a safety net program that offers one-time financial assistance worth P5,000 to affected workers in private establishments.
“We are already receiving applications from the workers. We are currently verifying their documents. If there are no problems in their application, they can receive the assistance after two weeks,” he said.
For the informal sector, DOLE has also implemented the “Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers” program, he said.
It is a community-based package of assistance that provides emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers for a minimum period of 10 days, but not to exceed a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work to be performed, he said.
Their work includes social community projects such as repair, maintenance, and improvement of common public facilities and infrastructure such as schools and health centers, debris clearing, and segregation de-clogging of canals, and materials recovery, stockpiling and clearing;
Economic community projects like repair, maintenance and rehabilitation of farm-to-market roads, bridges, post-harvest facilities, public markets and common service facilities such as production and display centers, fish ports, as well as agro-forestry community projects like tree planting, seedling preparation, and reforestation, he said.
Ticao said the informal sector workers in the region will be paid the P395 daily minimum wage.
DOLE reported that more than 100,000 workers were displaced in the country.
The affected establishments, according to the agency, were in the manufacturing and hotel, restaurants, and tourism-related sectors.*
BY MARCHEL P. ESPINA
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