The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has recommended to prioritize overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and minimum-wage earners once the Philippine government rolled out its vaccination program during the first half of 2021.
Currently, OFWs and minimum-wage earners are at level 10 and 11, respectively, on the list of priority for the vaccination program.
However, DOLE Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III stressed that both sectors are primary movers of the economy. Thus, their health and safety must be given utmost importance to also keep the economic activities up and running.
“There are about 25 to 30 million minimum-wage earners. They are the movers of our economy so their health should be maintained to keep our economy moving,” Bello explained, adding that OFWs continue to keep the economy afloat even during this pandemic.
Bello said they have already recommended to the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to place OFWs and minimum-wage workers at level 5 or 6.
