Ilocos Norte Saving Its Workers

April 28, 2020 JUST IN

 Ilocos Norte  starting Wednesday will start accepting applicants for its “Saguip Manggagawa Program” (SMP) wanting to cushion the effect of their displacement from work due to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).
A total of 500 beneficiaries who will be working for 10 days under the supervision of their employers, shall receive a salary amounting to P3,400, said the Public Employment Services Office (PES) of the province.
SMP, which caters to daily wage earners is a “Pay Now, Work Later” scheme in Ilocos Norte, that provides assistance to workers from the various qualified Non-Essential Micro Enterprises who are immensely affected by the suspension of work, including employers who are dependent on the services that were put on hold.
Among the qualified micro enterprises are trading, merchandising and retail (e.g ready-to-wear and apparel store), food business (e.g canteen, carinderia, and catering services), graphic design business (e.g t-shirt printing, photography and photo editing), franchised business (e.g food cart and food kiosks business), barber shop and beauty salon), education business (e.g tutorial services), and recruitment agency.
“Dito sa SMP, ang Provincial Government mismo ang magbibigay ng sahod sa mga employees ng isang business. Magtratrabaho pa rin ang mga employees sa employer nila. Ang maganda rito, SMP gives an assurance to the workers of the job; para maiwasan ang pagtanggal ng mga tauhan sa trabaho. Dahil dito, hindi pwedeng mag-resign ang employee at hindi rin sila pwedeng tanggalin ng employer after six months,” PESO Officer Lizette B. Atuan explained.
The Ilocos Norte provincial government also recently implemented several livelihood continuity programs and a cash-for-work program for tourism industry and other displaced workers.