BY GLENDA TAYONA and IME SORNITO
ILOILO City – What will happen to workers that Boracay Island’s closure for six months will displace?
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) are preparing various interventions.
DSWD Region 6 will focus on workers in the informal sector such as trisikad and tricycle drivers, masseurs and vendors, among others, according to Director Rebecca Geamala.
The local government of Malay, Aklan which has jurisdiction on Boracay would be asked to identify these workers.
“These informal workers kag poor would be assessed to determine the suitable interventions,” said Geamala.
One intervention could be the Sustainable Livelihood Program, she said. It is a capability- building program for poor, vulnerable and marginalized families and individuals.
The International Labor Organization defines informal economy workers as “independent, self-employed, small-scale producers and distributors of goods and services.”
On the other hand, DOLE would be helping workers in the formal sector – those working with normal job hours and regular wages, and are recognized as government tax sources.
DOLE has a 30-day emergency employment program, said Director Johnson Cañete but they would be proposing to make this longer.
Boracay’s six-month closure starts on April 26 to give way to its rehabilitation.
“Ang DOLE, one month lang talaga sa emergency employment. I submitted another proposal for 90 days. Hopefully it will be approved so that we can extend for another two months,” said Cañete.
According to the regional director, 17,735 employees in Boracay would be displaced by the island’s closure.
“We are targeting them all unless the employee himself would decline emergency employment,” said Cañete.
One possible job for displaced employees is the clearing operation in Boracay. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has ordered the demolition of all illegal structures encroaching on the island’s forestland areas and shores.
In Manila, Labor secretary Silvestre Bello III said DOLE will issue an advisory to guide Boracay employers in the formal sector on what to do with their employees.
The advisory will contain provisions on what can be done to affected workers during the six-month period.
“Should they terminate them? If they terminate them, then they should be entitled to separation pay,” Bello said yesterday. “Or should they retain them? Especially since it will only be for six months.”
Aside from livelihood and emergency employment, Cañete said their package of services include job facilitation (such as job referrals and job fairs) and skills upgrading / retooling in coordination with the Technical Educations and Skills Development Authority.
To date, two job fairs have been scheduled in Aklan province – one in Kalibo on April 26 and another in Malay town on June 15.
These would provide affected Boracay workers opportunities to find other jobs, said Cañete.
DOLE’s Aklan Field Office personnel had coordinated with the Boracay Industry Tripartite Council (BITC), an intermediary, to enhance the assistance to be provided to the would-be displaced workers.
According to Cañete, one of the agreements reached during the BITC’s meeting on March 8 was for its member-establishments not be affected by the closure to hire displaced workers.
Cañete said DOLE-6’s quick response team would be dispatched to Boracay to do a profiling of displaced workers./PN
