Over 6,000 Central Luzon workers get P147M in claims-DOLE

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO –– At least 6,574 workers in Central Luzon managed to get P147.92 million in claims through a mediation process with employers, the Department of Labor and Employment said on Tuesday.

DOLE’s “Single Entry Approach” helped resolve workers’ complaints such as underpayment of wages, separation pay and 13th month pay, noncoverage of mandatory social benefits, and dismissals.

Zenaida Angara-Campita, DOLE Central Luzon director, said out of 2,252 requests for assistance that workers filed last year, the agency settled 2,235 cases.

Records from the department showed that its offices in Clark settled P65.4 million for 1,518 workers; Bulacan, P40.5 million for 1,847 workers; Tarlac, P13.4 million for 874 workers; Zambales, P9.2 million for 718 workers; Pampanga, P5.9 million for 432 workers; Nueva Ecija,
P6.8 million for 351 workers; Bataan, P6 million for 685 workers; and Aurora, P724,000 for 149 workers./lzb