Boracay’s informal workers may get nothing during closure

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Thousands of workers stand to lose their livelihoods and billions in revenues will be lost with the government’s decision to close the famous tourist destination Boracay for six months.

Based on the assessment from the local government unit of Malay in Aklan, at least 19,000 workers in the formal sector and 10,000 workers in the informal sector will be affected by the closure of Boracay.

As of April 13, there are 4,375 licensed businesses operating in the municipality. These include hotels, resorts, restaurants, ticketing offices, car rentals and schools.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) warned against terminating workers in the formal sector during the closure period.

“Temporary suspension of business operations should not and must not result in the termination or separation of any employee,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said earlier.

“Employees could also use their accrued leaves during the duration of the shutdown,” added Johnson Cañete, DOLE regional director for Region 6.

The local government of Malay also promised to help affected workers.

“As long as they’re accounted for, they would be given assistance,” said Rowen Aguirre, executive assistant for Boracay affairs of Malay.

But ambulant vendors might get nothing.

“Sila ‘yung mga pasaway (They are violators). They have been doing business without permits. We also received complaints that they are the ones duping tourists,” Aguirre said.

“They did not get any permit from us. We only recognize vendors of kiosks and those with physical structures, albeit a small one,” she added.

The DOLE said it would conduct a job fair on April 26 in Kalibo town to offer employment or alternative work.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) office in Western Visayas has also created a contingency plan to assist at least 73,522 affected residents, including 17,326 registered employees and 11,000 unregistered workers in Boracay.

TESDA director-general Guiling Mamondiong said the agency would offer skills training under the Training for Work Scholarship Program. It includes agribusiness, information technology-business process management (IT-BPM), semiconductors and electronics.

Under the Special Training for Employment Program, TESDA will offer manicure, pedicure,  sewing, massage therapy and bread-making.

“We will do an inventory of the available qualifications for the affected people so that we will know the number of available slots. For the month of April until June, we hope to train some 2,000 applicants,” Mamondiong said.

Interested applicants are invited to enlist for the program at the Boracay Holiday in Boracay Island, Malay mainland and at the TESDA office in Kalibo.

Poor families to be displaced

Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DWWD) Field Office VI on Friday convened the agencies in the disaster response cluster to prepare for the Boracay closure.

“Our utmost concern is the condition of families who will be displaced… We anticipate that the displaced families who will be affected the most are those who are informal settlers. They will be our priority,” said Delia Villa-Bagolcol, DSWD-6 assistant regional director for operations.

Based on 2015 statistics, at least 6,829 households will be affected.

As of yesterday, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued notices to vacate to 28 poor households and 15 are families covered by the government’s conditional cash transfer program.

“We will be helping them. We will be coordinating with the LGU for their relocation,” Bagolcol said.

“We are glad that the agencies in the response cluster have convened. There will be a series of meetings so that we could put things in place and assist these families who will be affected,” she added.

One-stop shop

Earlier, DSWD-6 Regional Rirector Rebecca Geamala said the agency will be opening a one-stop-shop Operation Center. 

“It is where the staff of the DSWD and other agencies can work together and converge efforts in addressing the needs of Boracay residents and non-residents alike who are all affected by the closure,” she explained.

The DSWD has also reactivated its Quick Response Team for Region 6 to respond to the shutdown of Boracay.

At least 150 workers will be deployed next week to validate the list of households that will be affected. The list was submitted by the LGU.

Geamala also said that the region has a standby fund of P6.2 million for disaster operations and maintains a 30,000 stockpile of family food packs, each costing P360. 

“If there is a declaration of state of calamity, we could utilize this to help those affected in Boracay,” she said.

Geamala said she has also directed the immediate release of Aid for Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) for Aklan province.

“The province of Aklan has a priority support from our office. The AICS fund can be used to serve those Malay non-residents who will be displaced. The residents, on the other hand, will be helped by the municipality,” she explained. – With Mayen Jaymalin