TIM eMagazine Vol.3 Issue 2
Boracay Island
P.5b aid OKd
for Boracay
workers
P
resident Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the release of P448
million to the labor department for its assistance program
to cushion the impact on close to 18,000 formal workers
following the temporary closure of Boracay island.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III over the weekend
said the cash assistance represents 50 percent of the
workers’ minimum daily wage to be paid to registered
employees for the duration of the suspension of their work
in the island.
“This is part of the mitigation measures that DOLE has put in place
through our Boracay Emergency Employment Program (BEEP) for the
affected workers in the area,” Bello said.
The Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) said a total of 18,206 formal
workers and 3,954 informal sector workers had been profiled as of May 1.
Under the labor department’s Adjustment Measures Program (AMP),
financial support equivalent to 50 percent of the prevailing minimum
wage in the region will be provided to 17,735 affected formal sector
workers for six months or from May to October 2018 for a total of P448
million.
A separate emergency employment program is also available to
informal sector workers with an allocation of P52 million.
To benefit under the program are transport workers, haulers, vendors,
and indigenous peoples who will be temporarily employed for 30 days
to do coastal clean-up, as well as clearing and reforestation in mangrove
Credit : cruisemapper.com
sites in Boracay Island.
The labor department has also allocated 200 slots for the youth who
might be interested in the Government Internship Program (GIP).
They will be trained in government service for six months with stipend
equivalent to 75 percent of the prevailing minimum wage in the region.
The budget for GIP is at P6.5 million.
To fast-track the meeting of employers and jobseekers, the labor
department has also conducted a job fair in Kalibo on April 26 and another
one is set in Malay on May 18.
Meanwhile, under the Livelihood Assistance Program, a total of
200 micro-entrepreneurs are targeted to benefit from training on basic
entrepreneurship development, business planning, business work
improvement, and production skills, as well as livelihood assistance in
anticipation of the revival of their microenterprises after the island’s
rehabilitation.
Bello has issued an advisory warning establishment in Boracay against
terminating their employees.
He notified employers that they may only “observe the principle of No
Work, No Pay, or require the employees to go on forced leave by utilizing
their leave credits if any.”
As such, employees are expected to be called back to work upon the
lifting of the temporary closure of Boracay Island, he added.
Another advisory was later issued which provides the guidelines on the
adoption of alternative work arrangements such as temporary transfer of
employees to other branch or outlet; temporary assignment of employees
to other functions or positions; retention of workers for necessary
upkeep and maintenance, or renovation of the business establishment
of the employer; reduction of workdays; rotation of workers within the
workweek; and forced leave, utilising their leave credits, if there are any.
DOLE works closely with the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of
Tourism (DOT), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and
Department of Agriculture (DA) to address the needs of affected workers.
As the lead agency of BEEP, the labor department provides
interventions such as financial support for formal sector workers,
emergency employment for informal sector workers, opportunities for
government internship, job facilitation through the conduct of job fairs,
and social preparation training for micro-entrepreneurs.
dole.gov.ph
33