Jobs readied for displaced GV Florida workers

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – Emergency employment awaits more than 700 displaced workers of the GV Florida Transport Inc., whose suspension has been extended to six months as a result of a fatal accident in Mountain Province.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) office in the region said emergency employment and livelihood assistance are being readied for the affected workers, who are mostly drivers, conductors and mechanics of the suspended bus firm.

Lawyer Sixto Rodriguez Jr., DOLE director for Cagayan Valley, said they are working with GV Florida management for emergency interventions, such as temporary jobs or livelihood assistance for the displaced workers.

“Displaced workers can benefit from (our) emergency employment of 15 to 30 working days and will be paid based on the prevailing minimum wage. They can also be beneficiaries of livelihood assistance to make them recover their lost income,” Rodriguez said.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has imposed an additional six-month suspension on GV Florida after it found out the bus that figured in the crash was operating illegally.

Earlier, the LTFRB imposed a one-month suspension on the Cagayan Valley-based bus firm following the bus crash that killed 15 persons and injured 31 others.

Rodriguez said the firm’s drivers would undergo safe driving seminars to secure competency certificates from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Bus conductors, he said, could secure driver’s licenses from the Land Transportation Office after undergoing the seminar.