DOLE to activate emergency employment program for Ondoy victims

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will set in place efforts to provide emergency wage employment to marginalized workers in areas hardest hit by Typhoon "Ondoy."

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque ordered the immediate activation of the DOLE's emergency employment assistance program geared at providing short-term and emergency wage employment to severely affected workers, particularly those who lost their income and livelihood due to "Ondoy."

Roque said the emergency employment program intends to initially assist at least 1,450 workers in the National Capital Region (NCR), and Regions 3 (Central Luzon) and 4-A (Calabarzon). He said DOLE personnel in the three regions have been mobilized to identify target beneficiaries in the typhoon-damaged areas in the three regions in coordination with concerned local government units (LGUs).

The program which is usually being activated during trying times, targets to benefit 100 workers each in Marikina, Quezon City, Pasig, Pateros, and Taguig; 50 each in Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela in Camanava; and 50 each in Muntinlupa, San Juan, and Mandaluyong all in the NCR.

In Central Luzon, the program aims to assist 200 affected workers in Bulacan and another 100 in Pampanga. In Calabarzon, it seeks to help 150 affected workers in Cavite and another 100 affected workers in Rizal.

Roque said subsistence workers who lost their income and livelihood sources due to the calamity will be prioritized especially those whose properties were totally damaged and those formerly engaged in a particular craft or skill.

He said the program will provide the beneficiaries, through the LGUs, with emergency employment particularly in clearing and de-clogging operations and reconstruction efforts like the repairs of damaged infrastructure such as school buildings, daycare center, drainage, irrigation system, etc.

He added that the LGUs will identify the reconstruction projects where the target beneficiaries will be engaged into, adding they will be paid the minimum daily wage during the program's duration covering at least 15 days.

"It will serve as a bridging mechanism aimed at helping the beneficiaries cope while seeking to recover and regain their livelihood and income sources from the destruction brought about by "Ondoy." Roque said.

source: Information and Publication Service