Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) Director Dominique Tutay said that the affected workers in two barangays (villages) have started working under the (EEP).
“The Emergency Employment Program of the DOLE has already commenced today in Boracay island partly in Barangay Balabag and Manok-Manok,” she told a press conference on Friday.
“They are employed to clean the island in two barangay and also part of their work will also be protecting or planting the mangroves in the island,” the labor official added.
The DOLE is looking to assist some 5,000 workers in Boracay under the EEP. Of the number, they have, so far profiled 2,500 individuals.
“For EEP, we already downloaded PHP52 million…we also have facilitation program for the formal sector, we held a job fair last April 26 and we will be having another one on May 18, for workers that have been displaced due to the temporary closure,” she said.
As of press time, Tutay said they have profiled around 18,000 affected workers from the formal sector and over 3,000 people from the informal sector.
The island resort was closed on April 26. It will undergo rehabilitation for six-months.-PNA