The national government continues to provide financial and livelihood assistance to workers affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Saturday.
Lawyer Maria Karina Perida-Trayvilla, Director IV of the Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns (BWSC), said they continue to provide the flagship programs of the department such as Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Disadvantaged or Displaced Workers (TUPAD) Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), Abot-Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP), and other programs that will allow them to start their own business.
“The TUPAD program is for the informal sector. We provide a minimum wage in exchange for the community work they do – this ranges from 10 days to a maximum of 30 days. So their days are equivalent to the highest prevailing minimum wage in the region,” she said at the Laging Handa briefing.
“In the National Capital Region, they can work under TUPAD and they will be given PHP 537 per day or if 10 days, PHP5,370,” the BWSC official added.
The AKAP program is the assistance provided by DOLE for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) where beneficiaries are given one-time cash assistance of US$200.
Private sector employees are also given financial assistance amounting to PHP5,000 under CAMP.
Trayvilla said the beneficiaries are given livelihood packages.
“We provide livelihood equipment, one can do business in a cart, provide a bicycle for a vending business and they can put up sari-sari stores, trading by selling rice, or what business they want. DOLE can give that to you,” she added.
It was reported that some 3.2 million Filipinos were displaced by the pandemic last year.
Source: Philippines News Agency