Aligned with President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s directive to provide emergency employment to Filipino workers affected by calamities, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has allocated an initial PHP 11 million under its Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) program for the workers affected by the strong earthquake in Cebu.
Said assistance will provide emergency employment to a total of 1,513 affected workers in areas that were most severely affected by the earthquake, including Cebu (862), San Remigio (163), Medellin (163), Sogod (81), Daan-Bantayan (81), and Bogo City (163) — the epicenter of the earthquake.
Four hundred workers from the towns of Medellin and Tabogon are also set to receive their TUPAD salaries, amounting to PHP 2,004,000.00.
According to DOLE Central Visayas Regional Director Atty. Roy L. Buenafe, the Department will prioritize assistance for workers displaced or interrupted by the calamity—including those in the micro, small, and medium enterprises sector.
To ensure ongoing support for workers in the affected areas, DOLE Region 7 has deployed personnel from its Cebu Provincial Office to profile beneficiaries and continuously assess the situation in the province.
