PNR looking after over 200 displaced workers

(File photo by MARIANNE BERMUDEZ / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Some 200 railway workers will be displaced by the Philippine National Railways’ (PNR) five-year suspension of operations in Metro Manila.

In a press conference in Manila, PNR chief Michael Macapagal said that 150 of these 300 workers were offered to move to the railway’s continuing operations in Southern Luzon, particularly in Bicol and Lucena City.

“Currently, we have about 300 workers who were displaced in Metro Manila. One hundred fifty of them were offered to move to Bicol and Lucena. Out of that 150, only 50, more or less, accepted the offer. So there are about 200 employees left,” Macapagal said in Filipino and English.

The PNR suspended its Metro Manila operations to make way for the construction of the government’s P873.6 billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project.

Macapagal said that PNR has created a “placement committee” to help find work for the over 200 displaced employees.

The committee would transfer the workers to other attached agencies of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

“But of course, we are doing our best to encourage them to move to the Bicol operation. Because we don’t want to hire in the Bicol area, we have workers in Metro Manila. We just want to move them there, just temporarily,” Macapagal explained.

He also clarified that the displaced employees may also find work with PNR’s private contractors.

As for whether the employees were given severance packages, the PNR official noted that the displaced laborers are under job order status and are, therefore, not eligible to receive such a package under the law.

“But we have given them entitlement benefits through the DOTr’s budget for the construction of the NSCR project,” he added.

“The displaced job order employees, if they are receiving the minimum wage, they will get four months’ worth of salary. If they are earning more than the minimum wage, they will get 2 months’ worth of salary. That is what we really provide for those who do not want to move or join [other agencies],” Macapagal explained.

An official from the PNR previously told Inquirer.net that the NSCR’s Clark to West Valenzuela route will begin partial operations in the tail-end of 2027.

In the meantime, PNR is deploying buses along the Tutuban-Alabang route for the sake of thousands of commuters affected by the suspended operation of PNR.