DOLE allots P0.4M for residents displaced by Bulusan eruption

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced Friday the earmarking of P400,000 for the emergency employment of some 100 Sorsogon residents who lost their jobs as a result of Mt. Bulusan eruption. DOLE Regional Office No. 5 Director Alvin Villamor announced this in a release posted on the DOLE website Saturday. "We have readied this emergency employment to replace the lost income of 100 residents from the municipalities of Casiguran, Juban, and Irosin as a result of the volcano’s eruption," Villamor said. Eighty jobless residents from Juban, the most heavily affected municipality, will benefit from the emergency employment; while 30 Irosin residents and 30 Casiguran residents will also be employed. "These three municipalities have been greatly affected by the continuous ash fall and lava flow that prevents the residents of these municipalities from tilling their lands and fishing which rendered them ‘jobless’ and ‘penniless’ since Bulusan started erupting, " he added. The P400,000-fund for the emergency employment of Bulusan residents was supposed to have been released December 1. The money will be used for salaries for 22 days of work for each of the beneficiaries, the release said. The kind of jobs that the residents will get remains unclear, however. Villamor said the DOLE-Sorsogon Provincial Field Office headed by Imelda T. Romanillos will implement and supervise the program, while the DOLE-Bicol regional office shall pay the wages of the displaced workers. More help on the way He said the fund is only an emergency response from the government, as rehabilitation work has yet to be started because Bulusan is still erupting. "Perhaps next year, if the volcano has calmed down, then we can start to implement livelihood programs and pour more resources into these municipalities as long-term intervention," Villamor added. The DOLE regional office also said it will distribute 1,000 pieces of ‘dust’ masks to residents of the municipalities starting December 6. Bulusan started spewing ash and steam on November 6. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the heightened activity from Bulusan in November has damaged some P12.264 million in crops. – With Jerrie M. Abella/MRT/JV, GMANews.TV