Labor group appeals for gov't cash aid to 2 million displaced workers
Published Apr 28, 2020 06:03 am
By Chito Chavez
Progressive group Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) on Tuesday appealed to President Duterte to re-align other funds to urgently provide cash aid to at least two million displaced workers affected by quarantine protocols.
Antonio “Ka Tonying” Flores (Twitter)
UMA chairperson Antonio Flores issued the statement after the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that 10.7 million formal sector workers and 5.2 million informal sector workers in the country are in dire need of assistance with the lockdown.
Initially, UMA said that the government earmarked P1.6 billion for the one-time P5,000 cash assistance, covering only 320,000 workers or a mere 3 percent of the total formal sector workforce.
With the current health crisis, UMA requested President Duterte to use the P1.03 trillion debt service payment and P989 billion budget for his "Build, , uild-Build" program “for financial assistance to formal and informal sector workers instead, including agricultural workers.’’
Flores noted that many agricultural workers were unable “to avail of DOLE's alternative livelihood program for informal sector workers, TUPAD, as it only provided work for four to zero people in a barangay for only 10 days.
UMA said the Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns only covers 49,000 sugar workers out of the 700,000 workers all over the country for its P1,000 cash assistance.
UMA said the Department of Agriculture (DA) only allotted a budget for rice farmers, while the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) only recognized CARP beneficiaries from 2010 leaving out legitimate beneficiaries of Hacienda Luisita and Hacienda Roxas, among others.
"Instead of the administration's P1.3 trillion post-COVID-19 economic stimulus package that will grant huge subsidies to corporations and corporate bailouts to 'restore business confidence,' the fund should be spent in providing universal medical care and protecting workers, especially those in agriculture, who are the backbone of the country's economy and food security," Flores said.
Antonio “Ka Tonying” Flores (Twitter)
UMA chairperson Antonio Flores issued the statement after the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that 10.7 million formal sector workers and 5.2 million informal sector workers in the country are in dire need of assistance with the lockdown.
Initially, UMA said that the government earmarked P1.6 billion for the one-time P5,000 cash assistance, covering only 320,000 workers or a mere 3 percent of the total formal sector workforce.
With the current health crisis, UMA requested President Duterte to use the P1.03 trillion debt service payment and P989 billion budget for his "Build, , uild-Build" program “for financial assistance to formal and informal sector workers instead, including agricultural workers.’’
Flores noted that many agricultural workers were unable “to avail of DOLE's alternative livelihood program for informal sector workers, TUPAD, as it only provided work for four to zero people in a barangay for only 10 days.
UMA said the Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns only covers 49,000 sugar workers out of the 700,000 workers all over the country for its P1,000 cash assistance.
UMA said the Department of Agriculture (DA) only allotted a budget for rice farmers, while the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) only recognized CARP beneficiaries from 2010 leaving out legitimate beneficiaries of Hacienda Luisita and Hacienda Roxas, among others.
"Instead of the administration's P1.3 trillion post-COVID-19 economic stimulus package that will grant huge subsidies to corporations and corporate bailouts to 'restore business confidence,' the fund should be spent in providing universal medical care and protecting workers, especially those in agriculture, who are the backbone of the country's economy and food security," Flores said.