Micro financing scheme for home offices urged

Senate Majority Leader Loren Legarda has urged the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) to set aside funds to support a micro-financing program for the home offices of handicapped workers.

Legarda endorsed the concept of home offices for persons with disabilities (PWDs).

She said the ECC should allot a portion of its P13.5-billion Employees’ Compensation Fund (ECF) for the grant of soft loans to PWDs for the acquisition of home office equipment.

"More than any other sector, PWDs should be encouraged to work from home," Legarda said.

Legarda said the concept of home offices has become popular in other parts of the world, including the United States. She said some 15 million people in America run their businesses from home offices.

"People abroad are starting to realize that operating a business from their homes can be lucrative. Time spent commuting from home to the workplace can be used productively especially with the monstrous traffic problems our cities are encountering," Legarda said.

She said PWDs should be given access to low-cost loans so that they can equip their homes with facilities and gadgets that would enable them to engage in gainful ventures.

She said funding may be drawn from the ECC-administered ECF, to which both workers and employers contribute.

Legarda said her proposal would put the ECF to productive use. She noted the fund has accumulated over the years because few workers are availing of compensation benefits.

The Employees’ Compensation Program provides that private and public sector workers are entitled to work-related death and disability benefits from the ECF. These benefits are on top of benefits due from either the Social Security System or the Government Service Insurance System.