DOLE allots P22.5M funds for displaced OFWs in Central Visayas

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-7) recently announced the availability of P22.5 million funds next year for the displaced workers in Central Visayas region.

DOLE-7 regional director Elias A. Cayanong said this annual fund for the displaced workers will be targeting mostly the retrenched workers in the furniture industry.

Cayanong said although the number of retrenched workers in the region is not yet alarming, the P22.5 million funds are expected to help a group of individual who lost their jobs to go into business and start as entrepreneur.

Last year, the same amount of funds was released to 87 organizations, including some union groups and 59 informal groups and associations.

In 2009, Cayanong said DOLE is expecting to help displaced workers from the furniture industry, which is growing in numbers.

Priority beneficiaries are displaced workers of minimum salary level who lost their jobs from a distressed company.

Cayanong clarified that the DOLE fund is not a total grant wherein beneficiaries are required to liquidate the money, although they do not have to pay the entire amount.

Minimum fund assistance ranges from P50 thousand to as high as P1 million, depending on the kind of business proposal, Cayanong said.

Meanwhile, DOLE-7 is also working closely with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to aggressively implement the National Re-Integration Center for OFWs.

According to Cayanong this partnership is being intensified anticipating the projected retrenchment from the overseas employers.

Although he said, based on the record from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), the global recession has not yet affected the OFWs from the region, aside from the minimal layoff from Taiwan and Korea.

DOLE and OWWA have prepared entrepreneur skills training for retrenched OFWs. He mentioned that a displaced cook for instance, will be trained on how to start his own “carenderia”.

Other displaced workers will be given their own training, depending on their previous jobs abroad.