MANILA – Sugarcane workers or sacadas in Negros Occidental displaced by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) availed themselves of cash assistance from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
According to DOLE-Negros Occidental head Mary Agnes Capigon, P1,000 was given to each sacada who did not receive any aid from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and other sources.
“We wanted to reach out to our sacadas because they are one of the most vulnerable and marginalized workers in the country, and the COVID-19 pandemic added to their hardships,” Capigon said in a statement.
The DOLE in Western Visayas released the assistance with the help of the local Sugar Tripartite Council (STC) and coordination from 26 planters’ association and nine sugar mills in the region.
The beneficiaries were from the cities of Bacolod; Talisay; Silay; Victorias; Cadiz; Sagay; San Carlos; Bago; La Carlota; Kabankalan; and Sipalay along with the municipalities of Murcia, Valladolid, Pontevedra, Binalbagan, Manapla, and Ilog.
She added that the cash aid was given to the workers in several tranches that started early last May up to this month with the coordination of the region’s STC.
“The distribution of the cash aid will continue until we fully released the total allocated budget for Negros Occidental,” Capigon said.
Meanwhile, the families of the “Sagay 9” were given livelihood aid.
Capigon said the families of the sugarcane workers were provided assistance ranging from a start-up sari-sari store, dried fish venture and piggery businesses.
The so-called “Sagay Nine” was gunned down in Oct. by still unidentified men in a hacienda in Sagay City. (With a report from PNA/PN)
