The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Thursday assured emergency employment will be provided to at least 35,000 workers, who will be temporarily displaced during the closed fishing season in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
In a televised interview, DOLE Region 9 Director Roy L. Buenafe said the affected workers in the fishing and canning industry will benefit from their institutionalized Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program.
He noted the TUPAD beneficiaries would be given emergency employment in a cooperative farm within the ecozones in Zamboanga.
“They will be provided salaries for 15 days and they will work in our cooperative farm,” Buenafe said.
“The members [of the cooperative farm] are the workers from the canning and fishing [industry]. Our goal is once the dividends [from the cooperative] are released, it will provide them income, which will be good for at least one month,” he added.
For this closed fishing season, DOLE has allocated P10 million to help the affected workers in the sardine industry in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
Aside from TUPAD, Buenafe said they would also provide alternative livelihood to the temporarily displaced workers.
The closed fishing season, which is held annually, will last from December to February next year.
It is aimed to help in the recovery of the sardine population in the Zamboanga Peninsula.