CCPI: Income, food for workers a must

THE government must exert all efforts to ensure a continuous income stream and food availability for workers affected by the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon to stem the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic in the country, according to the Chamber of Commerce of the Philippine Islands (CCPI).

In a statement on Thursday, the CCPI said the government should tend to laid-off employees who need continued income flow for food and medicines and should step in if employers run out of liquidity.

“The availability of basic food must likewise continue to flow and be accessible to all,” it added.

The chamber said companies that submitted their list of laidoff workers to the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) can be counterc hecked by Social Security System records.

Only employees who were laid off due to the Covid-19 lockdown must receive P7,000 a month allowance for food and medicines until they are re-employed or have found new work.

The distribution of allowance for affected employees can be paid through companies that were forced to fire them. Moreover, the government will funnel the Covid-19 allowance through the respective banks of the affected companies.

“Other programs for the unemployed (non-Covid 19) will continue separately,” the group said.

The CCPI also said firms that have ceased operations would need to be financially capable to pay for other fixed overhead and maintain a skeletal workforce, as well as rehire laid-off or new employees when the proper time comes.

The CCPI is proposing that banks should give companies business stimulus funds, which should be equivalent to three months of their annual fixed expenses, based on their income tax return (ITR) forms submitted in 2019 or 2018.

“Companies who have enough cash liquidity need not partake of the business stimulus funds,” it added.