ILOILO City – For Boracay Island’s impending closure for six months, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is readying an emergency employment scheme that would take in 5,000 displaced people.
This program is for the informal sector in Boracay, said Amy Judicpa, information officer of DOLE Region 6.
Of the target 5,000, beneficiaries, 3,000 would cover, among others, displaced drivers, boatmen, vendors, pedicurists and manicurists, among others, said Judicpa.
The remaining 2,000 are indigenous peoples (IPs).
The emergency employment program will stretch for 30 days.
“Beneficiaries will be paid the region’s minimum wage which is P323.50 per day,” said Judicpa.
DOLE’s estimate of displaced Boracay workers in the informal sector once the island is closed for six months reached 19,000.
It has so far profiled 1,044 beneficiaries. It deployed a team to Boracay with the sole task of doing the profiling of informal sector workers in the island.
With the island’s closure drawing near (April 26), DOLE has sought the help of barangay officials in Boracay to help in the profiling.
Boracay is made up of three villages – Manoc-Manoc, Yapak and Balabag.
Judicpa said the barangay councils would be asked to identify the job opportunities in their respective villages.
The barangay council of Manoc-Manoc initially wanted the village’s mangrove areas rehabilitated. Judicpa said this initiative could generate employment – planting mangrove and nipa.
On the other hand, the council of Barangay Balabag thought of rehabilitating its materials recovery facility and the cleanup of the village’s coasts.
Judicpa said other concerned government agencies would also be devising schemes similar to DOLE’s such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development to help more displaced workers in Boracay.
On April 17, DOLE officials met with about 190 members of the Boracay Industry Tripartite Council (ITC) and other stakeholders to discuss the agency’s programs and services in a meeting at Casa Pilar in Barangay Manoc-Manoc.
Assistant Regional Director Salome Siaton appealed for cooperation.
Two job fairs have been scheduled in Aklan for job-displaced people in Boracay. These will be on April 26 in Kalibo and on May 18 in Malay, Aklan./PN
