The Employees’ Compensation Commission has realigned P20 million from its 2020 information and communication budget to the cash assistance project of the agency to aid more workers who contracted COVID-19 because of work.
According to ECC Executive Director Stella Zipagan-Banawis, the ECC is looking for ways to increase its cash assistance budget to help more workers from both public and private sector who tested positive of the virus while in the performance of their duties, thus, realigning more than 50% of its information programs budget this year to the said initiative.
The cash assistance of P10,000 for sickness and P15,000 for death claim, is a special project of the ECC under its Quick Response Program that aims to provide qualified workers and/or their families with immediate financial support.
“We value the importance of info campaigns, but with the situation we are in now, we believe that giving benefits directly to workers is far more important than placing advertisements,” said Banawis.
Despite cutting more than half the budget of its information programs, the ECC will continue to communicate its programs and services thru a more strengthened digital media presence in Facebook and website, TV and radio interviews and weekly webinars to ensure that the public is aware of the ECC and its programs.
“We also asked the help of our partner agencies such as the Department of Labor and Employment, National Wages and Productivity Commission, Government Service Insurance System and Social Security System to share our info materials in their respective social media pages to reach more workers,” Banawis added.
With the continuously growing number of COVID-19 cases in the country, the ECC is expecting more workers who will avail its benefits and services.
The Employees’ Compensation Commission is a government corporation attached to the Department of Labor and Employment for policy coordination and guidance. It was created by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 626, as amended and as embodied in Title II of Book IV of the Labor Code of the Philippines. The ECC is mandated to provide meaningful and appropriate compensation to workers and their dependents in the event of work-related contingencies such as sickness, injury, disability or death.
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End./Alvin Garcia