Victims of mass lay-offs determined to claim P10,000 economic relief

Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May First Movement), along with workers who have been victims of mass lay-offs, trooped the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) building today to demand for immediate economic relief from the government.

NEDA chief and former senator Ralph Recto earlier made a pronouncement that workers who have been laid off need financial assistance. He recommended P5,000-P10,000 worth of financial aid for each of these workers. The amount is to be extracted from P104 billion presidential social funds.

KMU, meanwhile, stressed the need to immediately extend the P10,000 worth of financial aid to these workers. The group asserts that this should be provided to workers continually within six months. According to Wilson Baldonaza, KMU’s secretary-general, “providing financial assistance for six months will help the workers cope with joblessness and its dire effect on their families.”

As of the first quarter of the year, more than 20,000 workers have been laid off. Worse, the Department of Labor and Employment itself expects a total of 200,000 cases of lay-offs at the end of the first half of the year.

Workers who end up jobless have to deal with the escalating cost of living both in Metro Manila and in other regions of the country. According to the National Wages and Productivity Commission, a family of six in Metro Manila needs, at the very least, P900 everyday to afford basic needs.

KMU stressed the urgency to provide the workers with the said financial assistance . “It is NEDA and the government’s responsibility to support the workers,” said Baldonaza. “The P104 billion presidential social funds should be used to ensure the welfare of the people in these times of continuing crisis. Workers and the people should be vigilant and watch where the government is spending large sum of money that is supposedly for the welfare of the people and the betterment of the country.”

KMU and the victims of mass lay-offs are determined to claim the promised financial assistance from the government. They will carry this demand to the Labor Day celebration next week.