Liloan, DOLE sign pact for OFW aid

CEBU, Philippines - The municipality of Liloan recently signed an agreement with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to help the workers who lost their jobs abroad.

Under the agreement, the municipality will hire the displaced OFWs, whose salaries will be paid by both the DOLE and the local government under the national government program called the Emergency Employment Project for Displaced Workers affected by the global financial crisis.

Public Employment Service Office (PESO) officer Adela Reuyan said that Liloan will shoulder only 20 percent of the salary of the workers while the remaining 80 percent will be shouldered by the labor department.

DOLE regional director Elias Cayanong, who was present during the MOA signing, said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo previously called for the immediate employment nationwide for the jobless and out-of-school youth under the Emergency Livelihood Employment Program as a way to address the global economic uncertainty.

Apart from the creation of local job opportunities, he said the President is also scouting for new job markets overseas for the Filipino workforce as a means to mitigate the impact of the global economic slowdown because employment generation is a priority thrust of her administration.

Records of the DOLE show that 600 more workers in Central Visayas lost their jobs in January as a consequence of the worsening global economic crises.

Cayanong said majority of the affected workers are from Cebu, who lost their jobs as a result of the continuous move of several companies to cut costs in manpower.

In 2008, Cayanong revealed that 5,700 workers in the region have lost their jobs and majority of them were from the furniture, gifts, toys and hardware companies.

Reuyan said the labor department will release P250,000 for Liloan as it is obliged to give technical assistance to the municipality for the implementation of the program that will start this summer.

The municipal council and the office of mayor Vincent Frasco have designed a system for the implementation of the program.

According to Reuyan, a displaced worker should get a certification from DOLE as proof that he lost his job due to the world financial crisis. — Garry B. Lao/WAB (THE FREEMAN)