P3M-wage for emergency workers from Yolanda-hit areas released

More than 600 emergency employment workers, who were victims of the 2013 super typhoon Yolanda, recently received about P3 million in wages and salaries for the work they have done this year.

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-7 Regional Director Elias Cayanong said that the amount released was used to pay for the wages and salaries of around 635 workers from the municipality of Tabogon and the city of Bogo.

About 460 workers from Tabogon who did gravel hauling, draining, cleaning, and declogging of canals for 15 to 28 days this year received a total amount of P1,491,840.

While 175 Bogo City residents doing tree planting, gardening and beautification for 10 to 30 days received their salary amounting to P1,521,144.

Under the DOLE's Revised Guidelines in the Implementation of the Department's Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program, displaced workers, underemployed and those who are seasonal workers, who are victims of natural calamities, are given priority in the program.

Under the DOLE's Emergency Employment Program or the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced (TUPAD) Workers, beneficiaries may work for a minimum period of 10 days to a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work to be performed.

"The rest of the places in the Province of Cebu affected by Yolanda would definitely receive packages of assistance from the DOLE. In fact, there are livelihood grants release and payouts, which have already been scheduled,” said Cayanong in a statement.

Qualified beneficiaries of the DOLE's TUPAD program are the underemployed, laid-off or terminated workers as a result or retrenchment or permanent closure of an establishment and self-employed workers including farmers and fishermen, who have lost their livelihood because of natural calamities, disasters, economic crisis, armed conflicts, and seasonality of work.

Cayanong added that even up to now, there are still a lot of workers, especially those in the informal sector, who have not yet recovered their financial status and undertakings because of the calamity.