BORACAY – This famed beach destination closes today, but some displaced island workers are still “clueless” how the government plans to support them.
In line with this, the Boracay Foundation, Inc. (BFI) on Tuesday called on the government to issue an order declaring a state of calamity in the island.
The order would expedite the release of funds for thousands of affected workers and residents in Boracay, the BFI said.
The BFI stressed that island stakeholders have done their best to cushion the impact of the six-month closure but they “can only do so much as our hands are also tied.”
“We hope that rehabilitation work will be done efficiently to minimize the impact,” the BFI said.
Some private groups have extended help for the displaced workers.
On April 16, the umbrella group One Boracay, Save Boracay organized a job fair.
At least 4,000 jobs – mostly in the tourism sector – were offered to the workers.
These jobs are based in Iloilo, Palawan, Bohol, and other parts of the country, said Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) president Jose Clemente III.
TCP is among the organizations that banded under the group. Others were the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association International, Philippine Tourism and Hospitality Officers and Marketers Association, and the Philippine Travel Agencies Association.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has also conducted resident profiling in Boracay.
The residents were then given jobs as rehabilitation workers under DOLE’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disavantaged/Displaced Workers program.
Some 2,500 workers, from the informal sector and who are indigenous people in the island, will initially benefit from the program starting today.
They will be working for 30 days until May 30, exclusive of Saturdays and Sundays, and will be paid P323.50 a day, said DOLE information officer Amy Judicpa.
Judicpa added that the workers will be tasked clean the shorelines of Barangay Balabag and the roads, drainage and mangrove area in Barangay Manoc-Manoc. (With reports from Aklan Forum Journal and PNA/PN)
