On the eve of the closure of Boracay Island tomorrow, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said that it will expand the operations of its team deployed in Boracay and managed by the DSWD Field Office 6 and its Aklan office. 

From the single Operations Center (OpCen) located in Station 1, Boracay Island in Malay, one or two more OpCen satellite offices will be opened. DSWD Field Office 6 will deploy more people to strengthen assistance operations, and the Central Office as well as FOs nearest to Western Visayas will also provide augmentation support.

The DSWD has been reaching out to the workers from the formal and informal sectors on the Island and informing them of the assistance that the DSWD is capable of providing them given the difficult circumstances that they are facing because of the six-month closure of Boracay beginning April 26. Based on surveys of the Department of Labor and Employment, there are some 36,000 workers in Boracay, 15,000 employed by the public sector.

DSWD Officer-in-Charge Emmanuel A. Leyco said that the DSWD is actively coordinating with the task force the national government has formed on its own efforts to assist Filipinos affected by the closure.  He said that based on the hundreds of interviews conducted by DSWD social workers, many migrant workers who have been working in the island’s various hotels and restaurants have opted to leave because they are unable to find new means of income or livelihood.

In the last two days, the DSWD has released a total  assistance of P502,300 to 280 formal and informal workers. The number is expected to increase in the coming days, and the OpCen is prepared with funds of at least P1 million to immediately provide for requests for transportation assistance.

“The DSWD continues to release transportation assistance to people who want to leave the island at the soonest possible time because they have been displaced.  We also continue to reach out to workers from the informal sector who will be remaining on the island post April 26. We are also prepared to implement the Cash-For-Work (CFW) scheme and the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) on the island to augment the income of the people here. Of course our Assistance for Individuals in Crisis (AICS) program is always open and available,” OIC Leyco said.

Dialogue with cause-oriented groups

OIC Leyco has also agreed to a dialogue with cause-oriented groups and local people’s organizations. OIC Leyco will be in Boracay from April 25 to the 27 to monitor the work of the OpCen. He is also scheduled to meet with leaders and members of various transport cooperative groups, the Boracay Ati community, as well as with the leaders of other national government agencies now in Boracay in time for the island’s closure. #