Inline image

Under the supervision of DOLE RO6-NOFO, the management of Asian Alcohol, URC Sure and VMC (clockwise from top) distribute the FBF to bioethanol workers.

The Department of Labor and Employment Regional Office 6 through its Negros Occidental Field Office (DOLE RO 6- NOFO) facilitated the release of the Four Million Two Hundred Eighty-Six Thousand Five Hundred Seventy-Three pesos and Twenty-Five centavos (Php 4,286,573.25) from the Financial Benefit Fund (FBF) to Four Hundred Ninety-One (491) bioethanol plant workers in Negros Occidental.

Pursuant to Republic Act 9367 or the “The Biofuel Act of 2006”, 80% of the levy collected from the bioethanol utilizing molasses as feedstock will be used to support the Social Amelioration Workers Program (SAWP) for the bioethanol workers.

Victorias Milling Corporation (VMC), URC La Carlota Distillery, Asian Alcohol, and Kooll Company Incorporated, released the said financial benefit fund on December 28, 2022, January 6, 2023 and January 16, 2023, respectively. The FBF released recently covers the period of Calendar Year 2022. The amount received by the workers ranges from Five Thousand Pesos (Php5,000.00) to Twenty Thousand Pesos (Php20,000.00) depending on the company’s production.

Regional Director Atty. Sixto T. Rodriguez, Jr. directed the DOLE RO 6- NOFO to conduct an accurate and thorough profiling of the beneficiaries prior to its distribution to ensure that those who received the benefit are qualified under the Department Order 222-21 or the Revised Guidelines on the Implementation of the Social Amelioration and Welfare Program for Workers in the Biofuel Industry.

Apart from the FBF, a Two Million Three Hundred Four Thousand Pesos (Php 2,304,000) financial assistance benefiting One Thousand One Hundred Fifty-Two (1,152) bioethanol plant workers was also released by DOLE RO 6- NOFO to mitigate the impact brought by Tropical Storm Odette that hit Visayas and Mindanao areas on December 16, 2021.  The torrential downpours, high gusts, floods, and storm surges caused damage to Ten Million (10M) hectares of crop area and estimated damage of around Twenty Billion Pesos (Php20.0B).

To mitigate its impact a Two Thousand Peso (Php2,000) financial assistance was released to qualified bioethanol workers in the affected areas. For Negros Occidental, the assistance covers the bioethanol plants of Kooll Company Inc., Universal Robina Corporation- La Carlota, San Carlos Bioenergy Corp, and Victorias Milling Corporation.