28,000 workers benefit from DoLE emergency deployment program

By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO

More than 28,000 workers have been given emergency employment by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) in Luzon.

“So far, we have provided assistance to 28,505 individuals under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program,” DoLE Undersecretary Ana Dione said during the “Laging Handa” forum Thursday.

“That is 30 percent of the 126,000 total, which is our (initial) target beneficiaries,” she added.

TUPAD is a short-term emergency employment program of the DoLE to mitigate the impact of calamities, disasters, and epidemics on workers in the informal economy.

Dione said the department even hired job workers to assist their regular workers to speed up the giving of aid.

“Our Labor Secretary (Silvestre Bello III) also gave a directive for direct implementation. Meaning, it will be the DoLE that will mostly implement, give the pay of the people involved or hired in the emergency employment,” she said.

Dione said the department also continues to provide financial assistance to workers in the formal sector through the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP).

The CAMP, a one-time financial assistance, served as a safety net for workers in the formal sector to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Nov. 18, the DoLE said close to P2 billion in assistance has been released for calamity-hit workers in Luzon.

The Labor department said it also allocated P312 million for workers qualified under the CAMP and P307 million for the informal sector workers qualified under the TUPAD in Region 2.

In Calabarzon, the DoLE said some P14 million has been allocated for around 3,000 informal sector workers while close to P190 million has been allocated to more than 34,000 affected workers in Mimaropa.

The Labor department has also allocated some P500 million for 74,000 workers in Bicol.