Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Tuesday the labor department is ready to assist displaced workers of educational institutions.

“When an educational institution decides to close or stop operating, they must notify us. Then, in order to be able to avail of CAMP (COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program) benefit, they have to give us their list of displaced workers so we can give them, initially, cash assistance,” said Bello.

He said they will also look at giving them livelihood assistance in the future.

“But initially, we will give them the one-time cash assistance,” said Bello, referring to  the P5,000 government cash aid.

Bello said the labor department has yet to get any reports of school personnel getting displaced.

“Usually, when a company, whether educational or business, stops its operations, they must notify DOLE on how many workers will be displaced. So far, we have no such records from educational institutions,” said Bello.

Last month, the Department of Education (DepEd) reported that a total of 748 private schools nationwide have expressed intent to temporarily stop their operations for the 2020-2021 school year due to lack of enrollees. DMS