Nearly P38M disbursed to aid 7,477 tourism workers displaced by COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — Over 7,000 of the 600,000 displaced workers in the tourism sector have so far received financial assistance under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, data from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) showed.

According to DOLE figures sent to reporters on Sunday, the department has so far approved the applications of 12,121 tourism workers from 720 establishments across the country.

READ: No ‘silver bullet’ solution: Tourism workers bear brunt of COVID-19 blow

Of these approved applications, financial assistance for 7,477 workers amounting to a total of over P37.385 million has been “remitted to payment centers” as of Dec. 4. This equates to only 1.24 percent of utilization rate, DOLE data showed.

Under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, P3 billion was allocated to DOLE for the assistance of displaced tourism workers.

The assistance for the remaining 4,644 is awaiting disbursement, according to DOLE.

Based on data from the agency, a total of 36,446 workers from 1,210 establishments have so far applied for the financial assistance.

While 12,121 workers have been approved to receive the aid, the application of 8,146 tourism employees from 289 establishments were denied and are subjected to further validation, DOLE said.

According to DOLE, its office in Region 7 reported the most number of applications at 10,719 or 30 percent of total applications, followed by the National Capital Region with 6,217 tourism workers who applied for the assistance.

Meanwhile, DOLE’s office in Region 8 only received 155 applications, the least number of applicants among the regions.

JE