Labor Day: Recovery program for workers to be unveiled

MANILA, Philippines — As the world marks Labor Day today, the Duterte administration announced it will launch a recovery plan for workers as the country grapples with the impact of the Luzon-wide quarantine set in place to check the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Industries have been disrupted and millions of workers displaced after President Duterte placed Metro Manila and much of the rest of Luzon under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to prevent the virus from spreading.

The government has allotted P200 billion to provide emergency aid to workers and other sectors sidelined by the quarantine.

“We will unveil a recovery plan for our workers. It will be announced on May 1 (today),” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said at a press briefing yesterday.

Roque did not provide details, but he said the program would be implemented alongside other packages designed to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic.

Other programs designed to help workers during the quarantine period are the Tulong Panghanapbuhay for Displaced/Disadvantaged Workers, which provides emergency employment for displaced, underemployed and seasonal workers; and the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) sa OFWs program, which aims to assist migrant workers.

Another initiative, the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program, was discontinued to give way to a P51-billion wage subsidy program for employees of small businesses.

Roque also said workers’ groups are free to hold online protests to commemorate Labor Day as long as they observe social distancing.

“Under ECQ, physical gatherings are not allowed. They can protest online if they want but they should not violate ECQ because it poses threats to public health. But we allow workers to speak and express their grievances,” the Palace spokesman said.

Roque said the government is studying whether it can provide additional help to workers but admitted that the national budget is limited.

A million jobs

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said a million jobs await displaced workers as well those returning to the provinces under Balik Probinsya Program.

“We are preparing a post-COVID recovery plan for the generation of fresh one million jobs in the provinces in the coming months,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said at a virtual press conference yesterday.

Bello said part of the program is to provide three-month wage subsidy that will allow small and medium enterprises (SMEs) affected by the pandemic to resume business and hire not only former employees but new ones as well.

“This much we can offer for our workers in the interim road to normal recovery,” Bello said.

According to Bello, DOLE will be collaborating with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in hiring displaced workers for existing but stalled infrastructure projects in the provinces.

“We will request DPWH to increase manpower for at least 10 to 20 percent to accommodate those availing of Balik Probinsya program from Metro Manila,” Bello said.

Former labor chief and now DOLE consultant Marianito Roque said the department is encouraging the DPWH to hire additional manpower instead of using machineries for a period of three to four months.

Roque said DOLE is looking at P55 billion for the implementation of the program that would also allow hiring of nurses for implementation of occupational and safety measures.

“We have already submitted the proposal to the interagency task force and still awaiting funding approval, but the project can already start if we can convince contractors to hire additional manpower instead of using machineries so we can generate jobs in the provinces,”” Roque noted.

He also said DOLE is closely coordinating with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to identify skills and alternative livelihood for displaced OFWs.

“We do not expect 100 percent accommodation for the displaced OFWs, especially those working in cruise ships. In the meantime they are here, at least we can provide them relief as part of the recovery plan,” Roque said.

DOLE also announced that workers who will opt to work today will have to wait longer to receive the mandated holiday pay. In an advisory, DOLE warned workers may not be able to receive holiday pay at all.

“In view of the existence of a national emergency arising from the COVID-19 situation, employers are allowed to defer payment of holiday pay on May 1, 2020 until such time that the present emergency situation has been abated and the normal operations of the establishment is in place,” DOLE said in an advisory.

DOLE said establishments that have totally closed or ceased operation during the ECQ period are exempted from the payment of the holiday pay.

The Associated Labor Unions (ALU) urged workers to organize themselves into unions and collectively bargain policies to better protect themselves.

“The ‘new normal’ post-lockdown economy is now forcing a vast number of people to rapidly shift to digital and electronic commerce to evade or work around the impact and recurrence of the deadly, wide-ranging and potent novel 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic and its duration to the economy, mobility and people’s lives. These radical transformations will elicit greater flexibilization and informalization of jobs and wages, resulting in a major effect on workers’ and their families’ pursuit for equality, safety and security and economic prosperity,” ALU vice president Gerard Seno warned yesterday.

About 1.6 billion informal workers or nearly half of the global workforce are likely to lose their source of livelihood due to the coronavirus disease pandemic, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Based on the ILO Monitor third edition: COVID-19 and the world of work, the drop in working hours in the second quarter of 2020 is expected to be significantly worse than previously estimated.

“The continued sharp decline in working hours globally due to the COVID-19 outbreak means that 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy – that is nearly half of the global workforce – stand in immediate danger of having their livelihoods destroyed,” ILO reported.

“Even once containment measures are lifted, surviving enterprises and on-account workers will continue to face challenges, given the recovery is expected to be uncertain and slow,” ILO added.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) yesterday warned members of leftist groups to forego their plans to hold a rally today or face arrest.

PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa issued the warning after

receiving reports that militant groups are planning to stage public assembles and mass action in commemoration of Labor Day.

“Much as we respect their right to peaceably assemble, out of the exigency of the health crisis situation, we beg to discourage them from pursuing these plans for their own safety and in the best interest of public health,” he said during a virtual press conference. -Emmanuel Tupas, Cecille Suerte-Felipe,

Related video: