The Employees Compensation Commission (ECC) will resume giving cash aid to employees who got the coronavirus after suspending the program in September over budget constraints.
“We are ready to open again for cash assistance,” ECC Executive Director Stella Z. Banawis told an online news briefing on Friday.
Ms. Banawis said the ECC expanded its cash assistance to cover COVID-related sickness, but had not anticipated the number of applicants that will avail the program.
She said only the cash aid for COVID-19 was suspended, while sickness, medical and funeral benefits and death pension had not been affected.
This comes after reports from labor group Federation of Free Workers that the ECC had denied applications of its members who got infected with the coronavirus.
More than 8,000 people applied for the cash aid, and the commission had processed at least 4,000 beneficiaries, Ms. Banawis said. — Charmaine A. Tadalan