14 Apr 2020 – DOLE belies it is underreporting the number of workers affected by the community quarantine to contain COVID-19.

We have been forthright and transparent.

Our numbers are based on reports submitted to our field and regional offices by establishments, indicating the extent by which the national health emergency affects each one of them.

On several occasions, too, we have called on enterprises and companies to submit to our offices the names of their workers and employees, regardless of employment status, so that we can provide assistance under our amelioration scheme COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP).

We are thankful to those who responded positively to our request that the P5,000 one-time assistance under CAMP has already benefitted about 220,000 workers with close to P1.1 billion in assistance funds.

We have not, in fact, discontinued accepting establishment reports so that we may have a better picture of the impact of the health emergency on the workplaces. And the numbers keep getting bigger by the day.

As of April 13, we have recorded the displacement of 1,428,841 workers as reported by 52,993 establishments. More than one million of those were due to temporary closures while the balance were affected by various flexible work arrangements.

And this is not counting the number of informal sector workers in their hundreds of thousands who are also needing financial assistance.

It is our desire to reach the most number of workers with the assistance we can provide. There is no reason for us in government, much less in the labor department, to play with numbers — underreport or otherwise downplay them.

Statement
Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III
April 14, 2020