THE labor sector is urging the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) to prioritize rightful beneficiaries in the implementation of its Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (Camp).
Wennie Sancho, secretary-general of the General Alliance of Workers Associations (Gawa), said they are looking forward that the workers who were truly displaced from their works should be given priorities.
Sancho, also the labor representative to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas, said the Dole should release the official list of displaced workers and not on speculation.
"Employers should be compelled to submit list of their displaced workers," he said, adding that labor and business organizations should be tapped to identify displaced workers and not merely on a hit or miss policy.
On Tuesday, Dole-Western Visayas started to accept Camp applications under Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2).
The agency offers financial assistance to displaced workers due to the prevailing pandemic pursuant to Department Order No. 218-2020.
Mary Agnes Capigon, head of Dole-Negros Occidental Field Office, earlier told SunStar Bacolod that all applications will be online with priorities to those establishments unserved during the first implementation of the program earlier this year.
Those unserved previously will need to apply through reports.dole.gov.ph, she said, adding that it will again in first come first served bases.
Based on the Department Order, the Camp shall cover displaced workers including probationary, project, seasonal, contractual and casual employees during this pandemic.
They are affected employees of private health institution, culture and arts, creative industries but not limited to film and audiovisual workers, broadcast, construction, public transportation, trade and industries, cooperatives and other sectors of the economy as maybe identified by the department.
The program, this time, will cater to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) who applied for Camp on or before April 15, 2020, but did not receive any financial assistance under Bayanihan 1.
Other preference include other private establishments that are categorized as MSMEs who applied for Camp on or before April 15, 2020, but did not receive any financial assistance under Bayanihan 1; MSMEs that will apply for the first time under Bayanihan 2; and and other private establishments not categorized as MSMEs that apply for the first time under Bayanihan 2.
A one-time financial assistance of P5,000 shall be provided to affected workers in the private establishments regardless of employment status whether retrenched or temporarily laid-off.
For the labor leader, however, there is no updated data from the Dole as to how many workers were displaced in Western Visayas.
Sancho expresses apprehension that there might be non-displaced workers who have availed the assistance when it was first rolled out in March.
"The fund should be given to those who are in dire need of financial support," he stressed.
In May this year, Dole-Western Visayas reported that, through Camp, it has already disbursed over P100 million worth of cash assistance to at least 20,000 workers in the region including Negros Occidental.
It said these assisted workers are employees of 1,061 establishments covered, as of May 4, 2020.
The agency previously stopped accepting applications for financial assistance under Camp as "it has been swamped with volumes of requests that the available fund for the program amounting to P1.6 billion is very close to being depleted."