DOLE releases P13M for 'Sendong,' quake victims

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has released P13.02 million for victims of two recent calamities in the country — tropical storm "Sendong" in December last year and the magnitude-6.9 quake in Negros earlier this month.   In a news release, DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the amount would benefit:

• 1,648 workers displaced by "Sendong" in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities; and
• those affected by the earthquake that hit Negros Oriental in Central Visayas.

  "Of this amount, P3 million has been released initially for the emergency employment of 500 sugar workers in La Libertad, Ayungon, Guihulngan, Himalalud, and Tayasan, all in Negros Oriental, under the DOLE's TUPAD (Tulong-Pangkabuhayan sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers) Program," she said.   TUPAD is an emergency employment program seeking to help displaced workers cope and recover from emergencies and other natural calamities.   Under the program, displaced workers are given short-term wage employment as immediate source of income for their day-to-day living. She said the P3 million will pay for the daily minimum wage of the workers for eight hours of rehabilitation work in the affected areas, including:

• de-clogging of canals
• clearing of roads, and
• cleaning of communities, schools, and evacuation centers. 

Each worker will be employed for 15 days.   "During the employment of the worker-beneficiaries, the DOLE will also train them to enhance their employability after they have completed 15 days of emergency work," Baldoz said.   Baldoz said the fund for the TUPAD assistance to the earthquake victims came from the DOLE Adjustment Measures Program (AMP) and the capability building program of the Sugar Tripartite Council  (STC).   Sendong   Meanwhile, DOLE Undersecretary Lourdes Trasmonte said the DOLE in Region 10 has employed 1,200 workers displaced by "Sendong" under its emergency employment program.   "The amount of P10.02 million that the DOLE had already released will benefit 1,148 displaced  workers from three barangays in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan Cities which were severely damaged by the flash floods when 'Sendong' hit the said areas on December 16, 2011," she said.   Under the program, the DOLE will shoulder 100 percent of the daily minimum wage rate prevailing in Region 10 instead of the 60-40 percent arrangement.   Usually, the local government units (LGUs) shoulder the 40-percent load of the wages.   However, due to the extent of damage to infrastructure, crops, and properties, the LGUs of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities in  Region 10 have no capacity to shoulder the wages, DOLE said. - VVP, GMA News