30 more days of job help in typhoon-hit areas eyed
THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Sunday said emergency employment in areas greatly affected by super Typhoon Lawin may be extended up to 30 days.
“Due to the extent of damage in the regions, particularly in Isabela and Cagayan, the emergency employment may extend up to 30 days,” DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd said.
The emergency employment program in Northern Luzon was set up upon assessment that the region was the hardest hit by Lawin, a super typhoon.
Under the emergency employment program, about 800 workers had been provided with 10 days of work, including clearing operations, cleaning of roads and restoring of damaged structures in the community.
be provided with Group Personal Accident Insurance under the Government Service Insurance System.
They will also be provided with personal protective equipment such as gloves, long-sleeved shirts, rubber boots and buri hats to ensure safety at work.
Meanwhile, Bello urged the Social Security System (SSS) to facilitate early release of emergency and calamity assistance to affected private- sector workers in the typhoon-ravaged areas of Northern Luzon to help them quickly recover from the devastation brought by Typhoon Lawin.
In addition, he requested the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) to open a special assistance window to enable workers and their families rebuild their homes, even as he directed in the typhoon-hit areas to help in facilitating SSS and Pag-IBIG assistance to the affected workers.
The super typhoon destroyed crops and public infrastructure and left thousands of residents homeless as it battered the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Kalinga, Apayao and Ilocos Norte late last week.
Bello said instructions had been 1 and 2 to help in facilitating requests for assistance from the affected workers and their families.
He assured that the Labor department is looking at other possible means to help families of OFWs (overseas Filipino worker) in the region who were affected by Lawin.