By MB Online
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Thursday said it has insufficient funds to give cash subsidy to some one million workers who lost their jobs because of the enhanced community quarantine in the country.
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III
(PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN)
"Nararamdaman ko rin ang impatience ng ating mga kababayan. Alam din nating gutom sila kaya hindi natin masisisi sila 'pag nagrereklamo sila," Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said in an interview with DZMM Teleradyo.
"They deserve it. Obligasyon naming ibigay sa kanila iyan. Kaya lang, mas kaunting pasensya lang po, ipararating namin iyan," he added.
As of April 15, Bello said around 1.5 million workers sought the P5,000 aid from DOLE. Of those, 435,451 were approved.
"Limitado yung budget namin. So ang tinatarget na lang namin at kaya ng budget namin ay mga 321, 975 workers."
He said the remaining one million workers with pending applications will be assisted instead by the finance department, which might give a bigger aid of P8,000.
"Ipapasa po namin sa Department of Finance. Hanggang dun lang po ang kaya namin," he added.
Bello, meanwhile, assured that the government is doing everything it can to help the displaced workers.