Victims of Pasay sweatshop fire to get compensation

MANILA, Philippines - The workers who were killed or injured when a sweatshop in Pasay City was destroyed in a fire can claim compensation benefits, acting Labor Secretary Ciriaco Lagunzad said yesterday.

He said the families of the eight women workers who died in the fire are entitled to compensation benefits from the Employees Compensation Commission (ECC).

“As long as there is an employer-employee relationship, a worker can file an employees’ compensation claim from any (Social Security Service or SSS) branch,” Lagunzad explained.

He said he has directed the ECC to dispatch a quick response team to Negros Oriental to assist the eight workers’ families in claiming the benefits.

Lagunzad added that the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) National Capital Region and Central Visayas offices are coordinating the grant of livelihood training and assistance for the workers who survived the fire and want to go back to Negros Oriental.

The eight women workers were killed when they were trapped in a padlocked building owned by Juanito Go, who ran an unregistered business assembling electronic gadgets. The sweatshop employed 40 workers.

Go, 68, has been charged with negligence resulting in multiple homicide and physical injuries, operating a business without a permit and human trafficking.

The eight other female workers who escaped from the sweatshop during the fire said Go recruited them from different towns in Negros Oriental. They are currently staying at the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Haven for Women in Muntinlupa.

DOLE said the workers – who were not allowed out of the building – received a monthly salary ranging from P3,000 to P5,000 and received only half of their 13th month pay. They were not enrolled with the SSS, PhilHealth or Pag-IBIG Fund but Go brought them to the hospital or clinic when they were sick, investigators said.