COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The Bangsamoro labor ministry has recommended to top regional officials the allocation of P1.4 billion as relief support for six months for private sector workers in the autonomous region to ease their burdens caused by the fuel crisis due to the conflict in the Middle East.
The proposed Formal Workers Cash Subsidy, drafted by officials of the Ministry of Labor and Employment-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, led by their minister, Muslimin Sema, had been endorsed to the office of BARMM Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua and to members of the 80-seat regional parliament in Cotabato City for approval.
Sema explained to reporters, during a dialogue at the Bangsamoro regional capitol in Cotabato City on Tuesday, April 28, that, if approved, their ministry shall provide a P5,000 subsidy, from June to December this year, to each of the 36,242 minimum wage earners working for firms and small establishments duly registered with the MoLE-BARMM.
“We ought to help them get through the difficulties brought about by the spiraling costs of fuel plaguing the autonomous region,” Sema told reporters.
Sema said they are optimistic that top officials of the BARMM government will approve their request for allocation, from the region’s coffer, of P1.4 billion for the Formal Workers Cash Subsidy.
Sema and other MoLE-BARMM officials, among them their consultant for special programs, Lito Coloso, separately told reporters that they have a validated list of prospective beneficiaries of the proposed six-month Formal Workers Cash Subsidy, obtained from official personnel records of employers and establishments registered with their ministry.