By Katrina Gracia Consebido
Tourism workers who were impacted by the oil spill in Mindoro will receive capacity building and skills training to equip them with alternative means for livelihood, according to Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Frasco.
Frasco shared this initiative during a television interview on Monday, March 27.
“At this point, it’s really about ensuring that our tourism frontline workers na kung mawalan man sila ng work for a few days or weeks because of the oil spill that we are able to provide them with alternative sources of livelihood,” she said.
“And that is why we will be providing training to them, not just specifically focused on their present work but to alternative types of work,” she continued.
Frasco said she has instructed the regional offices in Mimaropa and Western Visayas to gather the names of affected tourism workers and refer them to the Department of Labor and Employment for assistance under Tulong PanghanapBuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers program.
“Per our monitoring, umabot na sa 63 tourism sites yung affected ng oil spill and up to 1,000 tourism workers. Kasali na rin dito ‘yung ating community-based tourism,” she said.
“We are monitoring this very closely and I’ve already directed the regional offices to craft a recovery action plan para naman po mabigyan natin ng guidance ‘yung ating mga affected tourism stakeholders and we are sure to provide social protection sa ating mga affected tourism workers,” she added.
The DOT’s Office of Industry and Manpower Development (OIMD) will conduct a learning needs assessment to develop an oil spill training module to better prepare tourism stakeholders for future incidents.
No oil spill in Puerto Galera
The tourism chief said Puerto Galera is open for tourism, citing the municipal government’s statement that it remains unaffected by the oil spill.
“As far as the top attractions in that particular area, including Puerto Galera, we’re pleased to inform the public that they are still at over 90 percent capacity as far as reservation is concerned,” she said,
“We invite our fellow Filipinos to patronize Puerto Galera kasi patuloy po ang kanilang tourism offerings, while at the same time, we will continue to give whatever assistance that we can do to the areas that have been affected,” she continued.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported on March 22 that the oil spill from the sunken MT Princess Empress near Naujan, Oriental Mindoro affected several cities and municipalities in Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and Western Visayas.
The affected areas include Batangas City in Batangas; Naujan, Pola, Pinamalayan, Bansud, Bongabong, Roxas, Mansalay, Gloria, Bulalacao, and Calapan in Oriental Mindoro; Agutaya and Taytay in Palawan; and Caluya in Antique. -ag
