Govt offers P100,000 to families of nine workers killed in Semirara accident

GMA Network News
July 22, 2015 1:52pm

The families of the nine victims of the Semirara mine collapse will receive an initial sum of P100,000 in livelihood assistance from the government, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Wednesday.

The cash assistance was part of the department's Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP), according to DOLE Regional Director Ponciano Ligutom in his report to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.

"We have finalized the initial assistance to be provided the families of the nine landslide victims," Ligutom said. "Some of them would like to engage in livestock farming while some of them would like to engage in trading and grocery sale."

The P100,000 is on top of the P1 million that will be given to each of the families of the nine fatalities by the Semirara Mining and Power Company.

The nine were killed when a portion of the Panian mining pit on Semirara Island in Antique province collapsed on Friday morning.

Ligutom reminded the management that mine workers who are not working or on standby because of the work stoppage order by the Department of Energy must be continually paid of their salary.

DOLE records shows the company has 608 workers working in two shifts.

The bodies of the nine fatalities have all been recovered. —KBK, GMA News source