Aid extended to persons with work-related disability in Leyte

TACLOBAN CITY, Feb. 28 -- The regional office of the Employees Compensation Commission (ECC) here has assisted three persons who had lost their jobs after suffering disabilities while on duty.

Assisted by the ECC were Virgilio Tagra, Herbert Madredejo, and Roland Samaco. 

Both Tagra and Madredejo, who worked as linemen of the Southern Leyte Electric Cooperative in Maasin City, had an electrocution accident while on duty in 2015, resulting in the amputation of Madredejo’s arm and Tagra’s leg. 

Samaco, meanwhile, was working as a seaman when a dog attacked him during a life raft drill. The bite caused severe injuries and caused physical disabilities. After the accident two years ago, he returned home to Maasin City and never worked again.

The three received assistance through the ECC's main programs -- Persons with Work-Related Disabilities and Katulong at Gabay sa Manggawang may Kapansanan (KaGabay).

Under the ECC’s programs, qualified recipients with approved employees’ compensation claim may avail of free rehabilitation services, including physical therapy or free assistive devices. 

Beneficiaries may also avail of free skills or entrepreneurship training for re-employment.

The ECC also tapped the Department of Trade and Industry to provide small business management training at the Maasin City Negosyo Center. Through this training, they were apprised of the different techniques and methods to fully manage an enterprise.

Beneficiaries also received the livelihood starter kits, consisting of several sacks of rice, animal feeds, weighing scale, and a PHP10,000 start-up agri-business capital in their chosen locations.

The ECC began releasing the assistance last Jan. 26, during a seminar in Maasin City.

In a statement, ECC executive director Stella Zipagan-Banawis said the commission has always pursued the reintegration of persons with work-related disabilities to the economic mainstream. 

“The ECC has institutionalized several programs to fully assist these workers on their way to recovery and the KaGabay has been specifically established to meet this objective,” she said. (PNA)
CVL/SQM/LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA/EGR