MANILA -- The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) lauded the government’s action to provide assistance to the workers affected by earthquakes that rocked Mindanao in the past weeks.
“FFW lauds DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) allocation of funds to provide emergency employment assistance to the affected workers and livelihood assistance to informal sector workers,” lawyer Sonny Matula, FFW president, said in a statement.
“Our unions in Davao and other parts of Mindanao will support the quick response of the DOLE in southern Philippines,” he added.
The FFW head expressed support to the directive of the DOLE to conduct inspection of business establishments after the tremors.
“We welcome and support Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) initiative to conduct inspection after the quake. We hope he will include representatives from workers and employers’ groups,” he said.
Matula also reported that no FFW members have been displaced.
“No displaced workers among FFW members in Davao and other parts of Mindanao as reported by our FFW Governing Board member and Ateneo de Davao faculty union president Arlene Golloso,” he said.
On Thursday, the DOLE dispatched quick response teams to areas in Mindanao hard-hit by the 6.5 magnitude earthquake.
The teams will assess the extent of destruction in workplaces and possible displacement of workers in the affected areas.
The DOLE said after the assessment of the extent of the damage, it is set to allocate funds to provide emergency employment assistance to the affected workers and livelihood assistance to informal sector workers.
The southern part of the country has been hit by powerful tremors in the past two weeks. (PNA)
