DOLE: Pinoy victims in oil rig blast to get benefits

The families of the Filipino casualties in last weekend's oil rig blast and fire in the Gulf of Mexico are assured of full social benefits from the Philippine government, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said Tuesday.

 

Baldoz said all the nine casualties, including fatality Elroy Corporal, 42, are members of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and are entitled to full benefits.

 

"The OWWA will also provide the injured OFWs with a disability and dismemberment benefit of up to P100,000 for injuries sustained due to the accident while working in the oil rig. If they express desire not to pursue their overseas work anymore and decide to stay in the Philippines for good to either pursue wage employment or venture into entrepreneurial activities, the OWWA will also provide them with the necessary assistance under the National Reintegration Program for OFWs," Baldoz said in a news release.

 

She said other forms of assistance for the injured OFWs include repatriation assistance including airport assistance, temporary shelter at the OWWA Halfway Home, psycho-social counseling, stress debriefing, and transport services or fares for their onward travel to their provinces.

 

On the other hand, Baldoz said Corporal's family or legal heirs are entitled to a death benefit of P200,000, and a burial benefit of P20,000.

 

Baldoz added these social benefits are on top of the other benefits the affected OFWs may receive from their employer.

 

US-based employers

 

Meanwhile, Baldoz cited a report from Washington-based Labor Attache Luzviminda Padilla that the OFWs’ employer, Grand Isle Shipyard, Inc., assured the Philippine Embassy that it will shoulder all hospital expenses and the cost of bringing to the US the family members of the victims.

 

Padilla also reported Grand Isle Shipyard will also shoulder the repatriation cost of the remains of Corporal. — RSJ, GMA News