Cristy Briones, a microbiologist from a bottling corporation in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, was only three months in her job when a chemical explosion occurred on 29 July 2013 in the company’s laboratory where she sustained third degree burns in her right arm, abdomen, chest, and thigh. Since the injuries took months to heal, the company hired another employee to fill her position.

The incident left Briones with a big scar and keloids which she cannot afford to get treated. As the breadwinner of her family, she was pressured to find another job which proved to be difficult because of her physical condition.

Meanwhile, a personnel from her manpower agency, Northpoint Agency, advised her to seek help from the Employees’ Compensation Commission-Regional Extension Unit 10 (ECC-REU 10), after attending a lecture on the Employees’ Compensation Program.
In December 2013, she received her EC sickness benefit worth P8,899.00.

As her EC claim was approved, she became a qualified beneficiary of ECC’s Katulong at Gabay ng Manggagawang May Kapansanan (KaGabay) Program.

As part of her EC KaGabay benefits, Briones and her father undertook a Swine Raising Training at Manresa, Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro in November 2014.

After completing the course, they received a starter kit from the KaGabay Program which included two piglets and feeds amounting to P8,625.00.

In less than a year, the two piglets they received from the ECC grew and bore 7 piglets.

Through the KaGabay Program, qualified workers with work-connected disabilities are evaluated and referred to various institutions for appropriate rehabilitation services, which include physical restoration or the provision of physical and occupational therapy, prosthesis, and assistive devices, and livelihood or vocational training to help persons with work-related disabilities (PWRDs) achieve functional independence and become economically productive as they enter the mainstream.

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With reports from Stella D. Obice, Information Officer II, ECC-REU 10