Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello is appealing to big businesses to continue paying their workers displaced by enhanced community quarantine | Philippine Daily Inquirer file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines —As the number of displaced workers breached the 1-million mark, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III urged anew big businesses to continue paying their workers who had been unable to work due to the extended community quarantine brought about by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.
“I once again knock in the kind hearts of our employers, especially the conglomerates and big businesses. Please extend further your generosity to your employees and workers. Your good-heartedness and compassion are a great help to the government,” Bello said.
Read more: Bello’s appeal employers
The labor made the appeal in a statement posted Sunday on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Facebook page.
According to DOLE, 98 percent of around 42,000 reporting establishments are seeking the P5,000-one-time-assistance under the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), the department’s social amelioration scheme.
Read more: DOLE-7 OKs 5K assistance for CV workers affected by COVID-19
Based on reports from DOLE regional offices, 1,048,649 workers in the formal sector were either affected by temporary closures or flexible work arrangements. This figure is in addition to the close to quarter of a million informal sector workers needing assistance under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/ Displaced Workers Program-Barangay Ko, Bahay ko (TUPAD-BKBK) program.
Read more: Cebu City’s displaced workers urged to join DOLE’s BKBK livelihood program
As of April 11, Saturday, Metro Manila registered the highest number of displaced workers at 246,810, followed by Central Luzon at 179,875; Calabarzon with 99,178; Davao region at 90,414 and Region 2 with 75,189.
Central Visayas with 51,150 displaced workers ranked 6th among the regions; followed by Cordillera region at 46,614 and Region 10 with 46,351 and the Bicol region with 41,322.
Region 6 recorded 36,526 with MIMAROPA at 30,721 workers. The areas with the least affected workers are CARAGA at 26,981; Region 8 at 24,940; Region 9 with 24,664; Region 1 at 17,378 and Region 12 at 11,536.
The temporary closure of 31,612 establishments resulted to the displacement of 719,649 workers.
On the other hand, 10,224 enterprises resorting to flexible work arrangements such as reduction of workdays, work rotation, forced leave and work from home or telecommuting affected 366,404 workers.
Majority of those workers belong to manufacturing, hotel, restaurants and tourism-related sectors, and education, according to DOLE.
Read more: Clarificatory advisory on Camp documentary requirements
Assistant Secretary Dominique Rubia-Tutay, acting CAMP program implementer, said DOLE had already provided close to P900-million assistance to about 180,000 workers.
The P1.61 billion in available funds under the program would enable the labor department to assist 322,000 workers, Tutay said.
Aside from CAMP, DOLE also provides assistance under the TUPAD-BKBK program.
Director Karen Trayvilla of the Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns (BWSC) said the TUPAD-BKBK program had so far extended assistance to some 138,000 informal sector workers as of Friday, April 10, and processed a total of 235,949 beneficiaries under the program. /dbs