Bello warns against Boracay layoffs

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Monday warned employers in Boracay against terminating their employees during the six-month closure of the resort island starting April 26.

In an advisory, Bello said the “temporary suspension of business operations should not and must not result in the termination or separation of any employee.”

Weeks before the start of the closure, business establishments, including inns, have started laying off workers.

While saying the closure of Boracay as ordered by the President would compel the temporary suspension of business operations, Bello notified employers that they could only “observe the principle of ‘no work, no pay,’ or require the employees to go on forced leave by utilizing their leave credits, if any.”

He said employees were expected to be called back to work upon the lifting of the temporary closure of Boracay.

The labor advisory is for “strict observance and compliance.”

Bello earlier said the labor department would extend assistance, including the provision of emergency employment, to affected workers.

He said some 5,000 informal sector workers and members of the indigenous community on the island would be employed in the cleanup of the 1,032-hectare island.

The labor secretary has set aside an initial P60 million for the emergency employment assistance program.

Labor group Partido Manggagawa called on the labor department to initiate a dialogue with affected workers on the terms of emergency assistance. —Tina G. Santos