DOLE ready to aid workers affected by 'Ompong'

MANILA -- The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is ready to provide emergency employment to workers affected by Typhoon Ompong.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Saturday assessments are ongoing in areas affected by the typhoon that hit northern Luzon, particularly the provinces of Cagayan and Isabela.

“Meron (We have an) emergency employment program for them. (It) depends on the needs of the community. Assessment is ongoing, all departments under my supervision,” Bello said in a radio interview Sunday, referring to the departments of education, trade, health, agriculture, and social welfare.

He also urged the families of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) affected by the typhoon to proceed to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in their respective regions and apply for financial assistance.

"Merong pondo ang OWWA, mas malaki kesa sa amin sa DOLE (OWWA has funds, much bigger than what we at DOLE have),” he added.

Meanwhile, OWWA Administrator Hans Cacdac noted that they will provide calamity assistance to the families of OFWs from areas hit by the typhoon.

“We are just coordinating with NDRRMC (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council) for the worst-hit areas. Pero (But) definitely, we will have a complete list of the worst-hit areas. We will provide calamity assistance sa mga OFW families,” Cacdac said in a phone interview.

He also reported that 250,000 people have already benefitted from the Welfare Assistance Program (WAP) since 2016. The program has a replenishable fund of at least PHP100 million.

“It is always a standby fund. Programa na iyan na tinalaga ng board nung 2016 (It was a program created by the board in 2016). It is called the Welfare Assistance Program. And this is the calamity component. Maraming component yung WAP (WAP has many components), like medical, disability and all these other things. But this component is for calamity. And for this particular calamity (Typhoon Ompong), we have allocated around 100 million (pesos),” he added. (PNA)