22K displaced workers seek Dole financial help

DOLE main office.

The Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) has received 22,000 applications for financial assistance from private sector workers who lost their jobs due to the closure of their establishments as a result of stricter quarantine restrictions under alert level 3.

Metro Manila and several areas were placed under the more stringent alert level 3 up to the end of January after COVID-19 infections surged during the Christmas holidays. The spread was believed to be fueled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Assistant Labor Secretary Dominique Tutay said an estimated 25,000 workers in the formal sector were displaced when their employers closed shop, either permanently or temporarily, due to alert level 3 rules, which reduced operating capacities for many businesses.

Under alert level 3, establishments could operate only at 30-percent indoor venue capacity restricted to fully vaccinated individuals and 50-percent outdoor venue capacity.

One-time assistance

As of Jan. 26, Dole has received 22,000 applications for the one-time P5,000 financial assistance under the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), Tutay said.

She said Dole had approved more than 5,000 of these, while another 12,000 were being evaluated and more than 4,000 needed further verification.

Tutay advised applicants not to give up immediately after their claim had been denied as this could just be due to unclear documents or entries in their application form and could be remedied by submitting the documents asked of them.

Dole said that another 30,000 workers were placed under flexible work arrangements, which could mean reduced working hours, as a result of the tighter alert level restrictions.

However, Tutay said only workers who lost their jobs were eligible for the financial aid under CAMP and get the cash aid regardless of whether they were regular, casual, probationary or contractual.

She also suggested that it would be better if establishments applied for the financial assistance on behalf of their employees to ensure coverage for all those affected, but individual workers could also submit their applications.

Dole has set aside P1 billion for this program this year and Tutay said P130 million would be allotted to the workers who recently lost their jobs.