Most employees and workers need financial measures to protect their liquidity and survive this pandemic.

The top three assistance that workers and employees need are (1) payroll subsidy, (2) deferment of utility bills, and (3) low interest loans. All of these measures can help them extend the amount of money that they have and survive the pandemic.

Unfortunately, no one among the employees we surveyed was able to receive assistance through the Department of Labor and Employment’s COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (DOLE-CAMP). However, almost everyone (90%) received assistance from the City Government of Tagbilaran. The remaining 10% are those that are not qualified (e.g. they are not residents of the city).

DOLE CAMP has been reported to be grossly insufficient to meet the needs of qualified employees/workers. Based on DOLE’s records, only 99 businesses out of the 16,529 registered businesses in Tagbilaran had workers who benefitted from the program.