Displaced and disadvantaged workers in ECQ areas can now apply to the emergency employment program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said.
Bello has directed the remaining funds of the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program to assist displaced formal sector workers during the two-week ECQ period in the National Capital Region (NCR).
“‘Yung mga self-employed, unemployed… bibigyan namin sila ng 10 days of work,” he said. Under TUPAD, qualified individuals will be receiving P5,370 after work completion.
Bello said even small companies and employees can apply to the said program.
“’Yung employer they will send to us the list of employees affected then we will remit to the employer ‘yung amount,” he said.
“Pwede namang ‘yung employee mismo, ipadala sa amin ang pangalan, place of work, at ‘yung kanyang nature of work, then we will send to him through remittance center.”
Funded under the 2021 general appropriations act, TUPAD program has about 4 billion remaining funds until the end of the year.
Bello appealed to the Department of Budget and Management to increase their funds to help more affected workers in ECQ areas.
From January 2021 to July 2021, Labor Assistant Secretary Dominique Rubia-Tutay disclosed that the permanently displaced workers in Metro Manila are 152,957. DOLE sees that about 127,000 will become unemployed due to the two-week ECQ.
