GMA NEWS: NOV. 21, 2013 DOLE expands emergency employment in Yolanda-hit areas The Department of Labor and Employment has expanded its emergency employment program for residents in Eastern Visayas affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), even as the Department of Public Works and Highways sends technical teams to affected areas to check the structures there. In a news release posted on its website late Wednesday, the DOLE said its emergency employment program now covers 22 villages in Tacloban City and 70 in Ormoc City. Some 2,760 workers are benefiting from the program, DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said as she cited an update from Undersecretary Rebecca Chato, head of the DOLEs Typhoon Yolanda Crisis Management Committee. Chato added in her report that the DOLE Welfare Assistance Center in the regional office and in the Ormoc City field office are profiling workers for livelihood assistance. The number of barangays in Ormoc City, with 30 workers hired per barangay, is now 70. In addition, we have started the program in 22 barangays in Tacloban covering a total of 660 workers. The total number of barangays is now 92 and worker beneficiaries, 2,760, Baldoz added. She added she has ordered all implementing personnel to simplify and relax all requirements for worker beneficiaries. All that workers need to do are such details as the name and date of birth. We will use this as basis for payroll and, in case of claim from the group accident insurance, forward the request to Government Service Insurance System, she said. Our aim in implementing emergency employment and livelihood programs is to enable disaster-stricken families to rebuild their lives, with better access to social protection and sustainable income sources, she added. Workers children Chato also reported the DOLE is enrolling workers children for another DOLE program, the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES). We have P15.415 million for SPES in Region 8 for 2014, so we are already packaging this program, said Baldoz. She added the minimum wage the worker beneficiaries will receive give them income support to start afresh. Emergency employment Baldoz said Chato continues to coordinate with the Departments of Interior and Local Government, Social Welfare and Development, and Public Works and Highways for the emergency employment, particularly in areas where the bunkhouses will be built. Our approach is to assist LGUs with operational capabilities to undertake the emergency employment program. They need to have a work plan, indicating the number of workers they wish to hire, for how long, and what would they do. We will pay them the current daily wage of P260 for 15 days, Baldoz said. Meanwhile, the DPWH will send technical experts to Eastern Visayas to assess typhoon-damaged infrastructures including public buildings. DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson fielded 20 composite teams of engineers from the construction, maintenance, quality and safety, research and standards, and design bureaus. These include five personnel from DPWH Metro Manila to estimate the the work and funding needed, and identify the appropriate construction standards to be implemented. DPWH units in Central and Southern Luzon and in Bicol will reinforce the clearing operations for affected national roads in Samar. Meanwhile, DPWH units from Metro Manila and Regions 10, 11 and 13 will bolster clearing efforts in Leyte. The DPWH central office also set-up a command center for daily monitoring of activities. It will receive reports through e-mail at [email protected] and contact numbers 304-3514, 304-3515 and Telefax 304-3130. — LBG, GMA News
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 05:14:57 +0000
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