The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will be giving P5,000 of cash aid to workers who were displaced by their employers due to the escalation of restrictions to Alert Level 3.
"Under Alert Level 3, lahat ng mga workers na madi-displace either temporarily or permanently will be given a cash assistance of P5,000," DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III told DZRH.
(Under Alert Level 3, all workers who have been displaced either temporarily or permanently will be given cash assistance of P5,000.)
According to Bello, the government has allocated a total of P1 billion for the assistance scheme, and they are expecting a total of 100,000 to 200,000 workers to avail to fund.
Bello, however, said the good news is that only over 12,000 workers have been laid off due to the heightened restrictions across the country. But he expects this to increase over the coming days.
"Medyo mas magandang balita na as of last week, ang nadi-displace pa lamang na workers because of those operating under level 3 ay umaabot pa lamang ng mahigit 12,000," he said.
(Good news is as of last week, the number of displaced workers because of companies operating under level 3 have only reached 12,000.)
"Konti pa … pero we expect this to increase dahil yung unang coverage natin ay Metro Manila lang … pero nationwide na ngayon. Palagay ko yung estimate namin na 100 to 200,000 ay aabutin natin," he added.
(This is still few … but we are expecting this to increase because the initial coverage was in Metro Manila alone … but this is now nationwide. I think our estimated 100 to 200,000 will be reached.)
The labor secretary said many of the workers displaced under Alert Level 3 were from the transportation, accommodation, restaurant, and manufacturing sectors.
To qualify, Bello said displaced workers may apply online and provide their company ID to prove that they are an employee of a certain business establishment and that they have been laid off.
"On the basis of that, we will immediately remit to you the 5,000 to the remittance center," the secretary said.
To expedite this process, however, Bello urged employers to provide DOLE with a list of their displaced employees so employers can give it to them directly.
"We will remit to the employer 'yung pera para sa kanilang empleyadong na-displace and sila na po ang magpadala dun sa ayuda sa mga empleyado nila," he said.
(We will remit the money to the employer so they can give the aid to the employees who were displaced.)
