DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The ten months of community quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted to 15,285 job losses in Davao Region, the report from the regional Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said.
DOLE XI regional director Ofelia Domingo said in an online media forum that the jobs loss was due to “financial losses, downsizing, and redundancy.”
The highest number of affected workers come from industries such as administrative and support services, wholesale and retail, and accommodation and food services, the DOLE report said.
Domingo said workers who are laid off had been given assistance to ensure they received their separation pay and helped in finding another job.
“After we are notified of the permanent closures of companies, we immediately send quick response team to first orient [them] what are the available programs of DOLE that they can avail; second, to facilitate their separation pay to make sure that they are getting the right pay; and three, for us to facilitate them to reemployment, wage employment, or self-employment,” the regional director said.
The DOLE’s Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) had assisted 53,718 formal sector workers in Davao Region affected by the flexible work arrangement and temporary closure of workplaces due to COVID-19. They had received P5,000-worth of cash assistance.
Domingo added that they are still trying to finish processing the application of other 25,151 workers by the end of this year.
Domingo said that they will continue to provide assistance under Bayanihan 2 or Bayanihan to Recover as One, which allocates P165 billion to the programs of the Duterte administration for economic recovery and COVID-19 response.
Last week, the House of Representatives approved the measure extending the validity of funds under Bayanihan 2 until June 30, 2021.
Based on the most recent Labor Force Survey, the employment rate in Davao Region decreased from 96.7 percent in July 2019 to 92 percent last July 2020.
The labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno Southern Mindanao had called out the local government and regional agencies to provide more substantial socio-economic relief and job creation to support the retrenched workers and the informal sector as the economy reels from the pandemic. (davaotoday.com)
