RESCUE. Personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard District Northern Mindanao rescue stranded residents living near the flooded Bitan-ag Creek in Cagayan de Oro City as Typhoon Odette makes landfall in Mindanao Thursday afternoon (Dec. 16, 2021). The Department of Labor and Employment in the region on Tuesday (Dec. 21, 2021) will be extending help to workers affected by the typhoon. (PNA photo by Jigger Jerusalem)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - The Department of Labor and Employment in Northern Mindanao (DOLE-10) will be extending help to workers affected by Typhoon "Odette."
DOLE-10 Director Albert Gutib said during a press forum Tuesday that qualified individuals will get assistance under the agency's "Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers" (TUPAD) program, which helps workers affected by calamities, typhoons, or man-made disasters.
"Our affected workers due to the said typhoon will just have to go to our Public Employment Services Office or PESO, which are established at the local government units like in the city, municipality or province, and are handled by the PESO managers," he said.
Under the program, beneficiaries will be employed for four hours a day for at least 10 days up to 30 days and will be paid based on the prevailing minimum wage in the region where they were hired.
Gutib said the list of beneficiaries will be based on the data provided by the respective disaster risk reduction management councils in each local government unit.
Aside from workers affected by calamities and disasters, the DOLE-10 is also helping workers affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
The agency has already released about PHP867 million to 162,882 beneficiaries in the region through the Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP), and Tabang Overseas Filipino Workers.
NorMin helps Caraga
At a press conference Monday, the Region 10 Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) expanded its call for donations and continued its relief operations in typhoon Odette-ravaged communities in the two Surigao provinces in the Caraga Region.
RTF-ELCAC member Myla Aurora Faye Cariño, director of the National Economic Development Authority in Region 10, said even before the call for donations was made, other government agencies have already extended help.
"It may take two to four months to recover, so we need investments," she said.
RTF-ELCAC Technical Working Group chairperson, BGen. Ferdinand Barandon, commander of the 403d Infantry Brigade, said the Armed Forces of the Philippines has already mobilized its units in delivering relief goods and equipment to help the recovery efforts in the affected areas.
"Since December 18, a C295 aircraft carrying 2,000 food packs were sent from Metro Manila to Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte, another carried 350 pounds on the same day," he said.
Barandon also said the presidential yacht, BRP Ang Pangulo, which once served as a Covid-19 facility in 2020, will serve as a floating hospital and will arrive at the docks of Surigao del Norte on December 22.
Col. Ian Noel Ignes, Asst. Chief of Staff of Civil-Military Operations of the 4th Infantry Division, said the Satellite Battalion was already mobilized in typhoon-affected areas so that stable communication within government agencies is established.
'Bayanihan'
Meanwhile, the private sector and concerned citizens also called for the "bayanihan" (cooperation) spirit in helping affected residents.
Donna Ocampo, events organizer and former ABS-CBN Northern Mindanao manager, led the "Operation Hatud ug Tanang, Sundo ug Kauban" along with her friends and colleagues.
The group's aim was to deliver relief packs and help stranded people return to their homes.
Relief operations were also organized by Mindanao Development Authority, in partnership with the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines Alumni Association, Father Saturnino Urios Univ (FSUU) Foundation, Premier Group of Co., and Hakbang Pilipinas.
The different Mindanao chapters of the Junior Chamber International and the Rotary Club have also rolled out fundraising drives. (PNA)
