The payout for the first batch of beneficiaries of the government’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program in Antique is ongoing, an official said Wednesday.
In an interview, Ma. Cecilia Acebuque, provincial director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), said PHP178,024,780 has been allotted for the first batch, consisting of 31,898 beneficiaries.
Of the total amount, PHP164,308,640 is intended for the wages of beneficiaries and PHP13,716140 is for their Personal Protective Equipment and enrollment to the Government Service Insurance System under the Group Personal Accident Insurance for one year.
“DOLE, through TUPAD, is providing them, for 10 days, their emergency employment income of PHP513 daily,” Acebuque said.
She said some beneficiaries have received their TUPAD wages as early as Feb. 18.
The program aims to provide emergency employment to workers in Antique who have been displaced from their employment or those who have no other means to buy basic necessities.
TUPAD workers in Antique perform various tasks, including vegetable gardening and community and school cleanup in preparation for the graduation rites of public schools this April, according to Acebuque.
“TUPAD workers also helped, especially the local government unit (LGU) of San Remigio on its road opening project, or construction of feeder road in the upland barangays of General Fullon, Panpanan I and II,” she added.
She said that since TUPAD was not uniformly implemented in the province on Feb. 18, some municipalities’ TUPAD ended only on March 23, which is why the beneficiaries are only getting their payout now.
Some TUPAD workers also helped in the coastal cleanup and canal clearing operations of LGUs to prevent flooding.
Acebuque said because Antique has been allocated PHP600 million for 110,000 TUPAD beneficiaries for the whole year, they would again implement the program before the Holy Week in April.
“We are also now having the enlistment for the second batch of TUPAD,” she said. (PNA)
