Over 500,000 informal sector workers who were classified as “unserved” during the implementation of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act 1, may soon benefit from the next round of emergency employment from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
“The instruction and mandate given to us is to prioritize those who were not given aid under the Bayanihan 1,” Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns (BWSC) Director Ma. Karina Perida-Trayvilla said in an online briefing on Monday.
Under Bayanihan 2, DOLE was given another P13 billion for its flagship programs to assist workers adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
This includes its enhanced Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Worker (TUPAD), which provides emergency employment for displaced workers in the informal sector.
Beneficiaries of the program are usually tasked in helping clear or repair of public works, or infrastructures for at least 10 days in exchange for a daily minimum wage.
But under the enhanced TUPAD, beneficiaries will be given temporary employment for 15 to 17 days.
Trayvilla disclosed they are eyeing P6 billion of the P13-billion Bayanihan 2 fund allocated to DOLE for the implementation of the enhanced TUPAD so they could help 863,667 beneficiaries.
However, currently the labor official said they requested for an initial P4 billion, which will be good to pay the wages of 574,379 beneficiaries.
“We hope the start the implementation before the end of October,” Trayvilla said.
Aside from extending temporary work to TUPAD beneficiaries, she said they are also planning of providing them orientation on financial and digital transaction literacy.