Boracay stakeholders to raise funds for displaced workers

MANILA, Philippines — An assembly of accredited tourism enterprises have started raising funds to help more than 30,000 workers in Boracay affected by the six-month closure and rehabilitation of the island.

Jose Clemente III, president of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines, said the TCP has started selling Boracay merchandise and organizing some benefit concerts through its #OneBoracay campaign. 

“We are doing fund raising because it is not yet clear how the government will help displaced workers,” Clemente said. 

As of yesterday, the TCP has raised around P100,000 for displaced workers. 

On Friday, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the government released P448 million in financial assistance to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to help 17,735 displaced workers. 

It was not clear if the money was distributed to the displaced workers.

Profiling of child laborers, workers

The DOLE will also hire 2,000 “government interns” aged 18 to 30 to do the profiling of child laborers nationwide and displaced workers in Boracay.

Bureau of Labor Employment director Dominique Tutay said 1,800 of the government interns will be assigned to document child workers in the country, while 200 will be assigned to profile displaced workers in Boracay.

“Those who are intending to work in the government, you may avail of our government internship program… If you don’t have experience working and you want to have work experience, this an opportunity for you,” Tutay said.

The program will last for six months and each intern shall receive the prevailing minimum wage. Interested applicants may apply through the job fairs that DOLE has organized as part of the May 1 Labor Day celebration.

The 200 interns in Boracay will augment the 50 interns hired to document displaced workers in the island. The 1,800 other interns will be deployed to all barangays nationwide for the profiling of child laborers.

The profiling program is in line with the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, which aims to decrease cases of child labor by 30 percent or 630,000 from some 2.1 million child workers.

The labor department has documented around 18,000 affected workers from the formal sector and 3,177 from the informal sector. 

The DOLE has also estimated that there are more than two million child workers in the country.

Crime rate drops in Boracay

Meanwhile, the number of crimes in Boracay has dropped after the closure of the island.

In a statement yesterday, the Western Visayas police reported that only seven crimes occurred in the first two days of the island’s closure to tourists, lower compared to the 40 incidents recorded from April 23 to 26.

“This created a peaceful environment that allowed other government agencies to start smoothly with the rehabilitation process,” the police said.

The police did not provide a breakdown on the type of incidents.

Philippine National Police chief Director Oscar Albayalde earlier said the PNP does not expect petty crimes to increase in Boracay during the rehabilitation phase because of the heavy presence of policemen in the island.

At least 332 policemen were deployed to Boracay on the first day of its closure last April 26 and 265 the next day.

Albayalde has also ordered policemen never to enter commercial establishments.

“Never enter establishments to sleep and rest to avoid stories that might ruin us, especially during night time. If we need to sleep outside, then we sleep outside. Always wear proper uniform,” he added.  – With Sheila Crisostomo, Emmanuel Tupas