Cebu City, Philippines. Talks have started between the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-7) and the local government unit (LGU) of the City of Naga, Cebu for a possible provision of emergency employment for the workers affected by the massive landslide that hit the City last week.
DOLE-Cebu Provincial Field Office (CPFO) Head, Maria Grace V. Diaz, in a statement, said that the DOLE already started discussing options with the representatives of the City’s Public Employment Service Office (PESO) and City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) for the assistance to be provided to affected workers under the DOLE’s Emergency Employment Program or Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD).
“We are now actively coordinating with the PESO and the CSWDO in the City for the profiling of affected workers in the six barangays declared under the state of calamity,” said Diaz.
The profiling, she added, is expected to cover individuals and families residing in barangays Tina-an, Naalad, Mainit, Pangdan, Cabungahan, and Inoburan.
Tina-an and Naalad, the barangays hardest-hit by the landslide registered dozens of homes buried in the rubble killing, as of this writing, more than sixty (60) individuals while dozens still remained missing. And according to DOLE-7 Regional Director, Atty. Johnson G. Cañete, said barangays will be made priority for the assistance.
“We agreed that we will be sourcing out the profile of affected individuals and families from the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office to avoid duplication of entries or names. From there, we will be identifying affected workers, of course with the help of the PESO of the City of Naga,” said Atty. Cañete.
City of Naga-PESO Manager, Ms. Arlene Aliganga, is also one of the affected individuals in Barangay Pangdan, who left their homes after the tragedy.
Director Cañete emphasized that there’s going to be one member per household, who can avail the emergency employment. Staff from the CPFO, he added, would be soon conducting interviews among identified workers to find out if they are also willing to work under the TUPAD.
Beneficiaries would be rendering work for thirty (30) days with a daily wage rate of PHP386.00. They would also be enrolled in a group micro-insurance for one (1) year under the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) in the form of TUPAD shirts would also be provided.
Under Department Order No. 173, Series of 2017or the Revised Guidelines in the Implementation of the Department of Labor and Employment Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP), beneficiaries’ length of work may vary from a minimum period of 10 days to a maximum period of 30 days depending on the nature of work to be performed.
“Workers could possibly render work at the designated evacuation centers where hundreds of families are sheltered or may help pack relief goods as options. For now, we are awaiting for the official list from the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office. Once it’s made available, then the DOLE would commence making its own profiling of workers for the implementation of TUPAD,” explained the Regional Director.
TUPAD is one of the two components of the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program, the Department’s contribution to the government’s agenda of inclusive growth through massive job generation and poverty reduction.
The DOLE also assigned donation boxes at the Regional Office for additional assistance that its own employees could extend to the landslide victims.