ILOILO City – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has paid a total of P14,578,592.72 for the salaries for 1,668 emergency employment beneficiaries for the period April 26-May 31, 2018 under the DOLE Emergency Employment Program, or Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) in Boracay.
Of the total payment, P2,267,249.75 was paid to 307 worker-beneficiaries from Brgy. Yapak, P8,944,877.00 was paid to 980 worker-beneficiaries from Brgy. Balabag, while P3,366,465.97 was paid to 381 worker-beneficiaries from Brgy. Manocmanoc.
The 1,668 beneficiaries were the informal sector (IS) workers and indigenous people (IP) who were affected by the temporary closure of the resort island. They were the first batch of beneficiaries from the 5,000 commitment of Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III to provide emergency employment to affected workers and IPs as part of the DOLE’s comprehensive package of assistance to mitigate the adverse economic impact of the island’s ongoing rehabilitation.
Further, to assist in the ongoing rehabilitation of the island, DOLE has already hired 1,292 worker-beneficiaries for 30 days for the second batch of beneficiaries. Of the said beneficiaries, 638 came from Brgy. Manocmanoc, 360 from Brgy. Yapak and 294 from Brgy. Balabag.
DOLE regional director Atty. Johnson G. Cañete said that these workers will continue to assist in the efforts of the government to clean up and rehabilitate the island of Boracay.
Cañete emphasized that DOLE 6 is continuously coordinating with the chief executives of the three barangays together with other agencies that are also working for the rehabilitation of the island, to identify the areas where TUPAD workers will be deployed./PN
