DOLE to release P5.5M emergency funds for Caraga Pablo victims

The Department of Labor and Employment will release an initial P5.5 million in emergency employment and livelihood funds for workers in areas affected by Tropical Cyclone Pablo (Bopha). DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz particularly ordered the amount released to the Caraga region, including New Bataan town in Compostela Valley where workers of Korea-owned banana plantation Freshmax Corp. were affected by flash floods. "Of the amount, P500,000 will be for livelihood and emergency employment assistance to workers in the Caraga Region. The rest of the amount will be for affected workers in the Compostela Valley," the DOLE said in a news release posted on the Official Gazette website late Friday. “We have to respond immediately to the workers’ call for assistance, especially those who were hardest hit by the typhoon,” Baldoz said. Only last November, Freshmax Corp. and its workers' union peacefully settled a labor dispute and had just concluded a collective bargaining agreement. The signing of the CBA was scheduled this month, but typhoon Pablo set back this timetable, the DOLE said. The National Conciliation and Mediation Board said the plantation needs at least $1.2 million for rehabilitation. Emergency employment assistance DOLE Regional Office 11 Director Joffrey Suyao proposed an emergency employment assistance program that will give provide temporary employment for 1,000 people, including the displaced workers of Freshmax Corp. The funding for this will be sourced from the DOLE-Adjustment Measures Program (AMP) while the LGU or the business enterprise counterpart will provide the tools, equipment, and other materials worth P1 million. This brings the total program cost to P4 million. Beneficiaries will be screened and selected by the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) and will work for 12 days, or Dec. 16 to Jan. 31. The workers will be employed to clean up debris, declog canals, and assist in other priority infrastructure projects of the LGU including the rehabilitation of agricultural structures. “The income that the worker-beneficiary will get from this emergency employment program will help them rise from the tragedy that took everything they had and start anew,” Suyao said. Meanwhile, Baldoz instructed Suyao to work with Region 11′s Banana Industry Tripartite Council (BITC) in the implementation of the strategies in the Banana Industry Convergence Plan. — DVM, GMA News