ILOILO City – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Region 6 is expecting to assist 18,700 affected employees in relation to Boracay Island’s six-month closure and rehabilitation.
This is based on its latest profiling data, according to DOLE Region 6 head Johnson Cañete.
On May 17, the agency conducted an orientation on its Department Order No. 191 series of 2018, or the Guidelines on the Adjustment Measures Program (AMP) for Affected Workers due to the Boracay Island Rehabilitation.
The orientations were held at the Casa Pilar Resort, the Boracay Holiday Resort and the Barangay Manoc-Manoc gymnasium, which focused on the Boracay Emergency Employment Program (BEEP). Around 4,000 affected island workers attended.
DILG assistant secretary Benjo Benavidez and Bureau of Local Employment director Dominique Tutay led the orientations.
The BEEP AMP is DOLE’s newest initiative that seeks to help affected island workers in the formal sector through provision of financial support linked to active labor market programs such as emergency employment, livelihood and training.
Under the BEEP AMP, employees in Boracay and other parts of Malay, Aklan whose employment was interrupted or the payment of regular wage stopped during the closure of the island resort and 30 days prior thereto, are eligible to avail themselves of the program’s benefits.
BEEP AMP has various program components, like the Financial Support equivalent to 50 percent of the prevailing minimum wage in Western Visayas for displaced and suspended workers and 25 percent for retained workers who do not receive regular wage.
Another component is the Employment Facilitation, which gives affected workers access to job opportunities suitable to their qualifications. It also gives trainings to displaced workers for skills enhancement and employability.
BEEP AMP beneficiaries must submit, on or before the 15th of each month, their Beneficiary Progress Report, two proofs of active search for employment or job contact, and a proof of attendance to any training conducted by a government agency (for the first and fourth months).
They must submit their application requirements and monthly reports to the BEEP Operations Center at the DOLE Satellite Desk in Boracay and at the Caticlan jetty port, DOLE Region 6 or one of its field offices. (With DOLE Region 6/PN)
