The government has distributed more than P4.5 billion in emergency cash to at least a million workers affected by the pandemic under the Department of Labor and Employment’s flagship cash-for-work program, an official said Monday.
As of Dec. 28, the department said, 939,209 informal- sector workers hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and those affected by the successive typhoons last month were served under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers or TUPAD program.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the record implementation of TUPAD was pursuant to the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte to speed up the grant of assistance to the most vulnerable members of society.
“And this was precisely the instruction we issued to our regional offices: Expedite the release of assistance to our workers,” Bello said.
In a report to Bello, the Bureau of Workers with Special Concern said of the beneficiaries, some 797,222 had been paid while 141,989 had ongoing work. The BWSC manages the TUPAD program.
BWSC Director Karen Trayvilla said with the expeditious program implementation, TUPAD beneficiaries might reach more than one million with more funds still available from the P6-billion appropriation under the Bayanihan Act 2.
“We expect more informal sector workers to benefit from TUPAD under Bayanihan 2. That may exceed one million,” Trayvilla said, noting that her office had originally targeted less than a million beneficiaries.
Trayvilla said the Labor Department had relaxed the program depending on the needs of the region. She said beneficiaries were paid for work done for a minimum of 10 days to a maximum of 16 days based on the threshold requirements in the area.
The National Capital Region had the biggest TUPAD allocation under Bayanihan 2, which stood at P923.9 million followed by Region 4A at P593.2 million, and Region 3 with P587.1 million.
TUPAD is a regular program of the Department of Labor and Employment to provide emergency employment to displaced or disadvantaged workers in the informal sector affected by calamities and disasters.