There are 220 tourism enterprises, community-based tourism organizations, group associations, and support services in Negros Occidental, with 8,688 initial individual beneficiaries, endorsed to the Department of Labor and Employment in Region VI, as of Jan. 29, for cash assistance under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson met with Agnes Capigon and Gretchen Iwayan of the DOLE Negros Occidental at the Governor’s Office yesterday for an update on the status of financial assistance to be provided to displaced workers in the tourism sector, a press release from the Capitol said.
The DOLE and the Department of Tourism have signed a memorandum of agreement on the giving of a one-time cash assistance of P5,000 each to beneficiaries under the DOLE’s Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program.
The DOT 6 has also called on tourism establishments and associations affected by the pandemic to avail of the financial assistance.
It added that it is still accepting applications for endorsement to the DOLE 6 for the cash aid as part of the government’s response to address the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 crisis to the tourism industry.
“We are pleased to inform you that the DOT-DOLE Joint Memorandum Circular granting financial assistance under Bayanihan Act 2 is still in effect,” it said on a Facebook post on Jan. 28.
Those qualified to apply are affected tourism enterprises, community-based tourism organizations, tour guides and their associations, and tourism support services.
During her visit to Negros Occidental and Bacolod City last month, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said she wants more tourism workers to avail of the financial assistance.
In Western Visayas, some 10,180 displaced tourism workers have availed of the cash aid, amounting to P50.9 million, as of Jan. 13.
A total of 1,754 beneficiaries were from Bacolod City and Negros Occidental with a paid out amount of P8.7 million.
Romulo-Puyat also said that through the Small Business Corp., the DOT would be able to provide working capital loans for small tourism enterprises, with a loan term of up to four years and a grace period of up to 12 months, with zero interest rate. “The tourism industry will just re-start and these enterprises have no income yet,” she added.*PNA
