Tourists enjoy the beach in Boracay Island in this February 2018 photo. With the impending closure of the island, businesses there have already started laying off workers. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Businesses on resort island start sacking workers as closure nears
ILOILO CITY — Businesses in Boracay have started laying off workers less than three weeks before the scheduled 6-month closure of the resort island to tourism and as government agencies prepared contingency plans.
A hotel chain has laid off 280 mostly newly hired workers in anticipation of no guests, especially foreign tourists, during the closure.
“We will decide later on our remaining employees,” said the hotel official who asked not to be identified for lack of authority to issue a statement.
Business groups expect more establishments, especially the small and family-operated ones, to trim the number of workers and cut overhead costs.
A small family-operated inn in Sitio Angol in Barangay Manoc-Manoc will be sending home all its five staff members to their hometowns in Aklan while the closure is ongoing.
“We cannot pay for their salaries but we will continue remitting contributions for the Social Salary System, (Philippine Health Insurance Corp.) and PagIbig Fund,” the hotel manager said.
He said they still had to continue paying for electricity and water services even without guests. An owner of a delicatessen said they had to let go of three casual workers because of the closure. They still have to discuss plans for their remaining staff.
Some business operators will absorb their hotel or resort staff in other businesses so they can continue working. Others said they would continue supporting their workers despite the closure.
“We have decided to keep them even if we are closed because they have been with us for many years and they have helped us build and developed our resort,” said Ruth Tirol-Jarantilla, owner of the Sea Wind Boracay resort.
The closure of the island will affect the more than 73,500 island residents, including 17,328 registered employees and 9,365 unregistered workers.
Agencies under the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council in Western Visayas will still finalize their contingency plans and measures this week.
Johnson Cañete, Western Visayas director of the Department of Labor and Employment, earlier said the agency was preparing to assist the more than 17,000 registered workers who will be dislocated.
The proposed compensation package included a P500 insurance and compensation amounting to the regional minimum wage of P323.50 per day from 30 to 90 days.
Workers on the island were earning more than the minimum wage.
A souvenir vendor and masseuse can earn from P700 to P900 per day during the peak months for tourists.
Business groups have lamented the lack of clear plans and guidelines on how government will address the dislocation of thousands of workers and the losses of business operators especially those with bank loans and high overhead costs.
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