DOLE only has less than P4B for TUPAD until end of 2021

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Monday said it only has less than P4 billion funds for its Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced (TUPAD) workers program until the end of the year.

As more workers are expected to get displaced during the implementation of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila, Labor Assistant Secretary Dominique Rubia-Tutay said they will source the cash aid from this measly P4 billion.

"Less than P4 billion na lang po ito (TUPAD). Supposedly, nakaprogram na po sila at the end of the year (This is less than P4 billion. Supposedly it is programmed at the end of the year)," Tutay said during an online press conference of DOLE.

She added that this P4 billion funds is under the national budget for 2021 when asked if there are still funds from the TUPAD.

To augment the TUPAD program, Tutay said officials of DOLE and Department of Social Welfare and Development will have a meeting with the Department of Budget of Management (DBM) to ask for more funds.

This was also disclosed by a Labor official earlier during the state media's online press briefing.

"May grupo ng SAP (social amelioration program) being headed by the  DSWD, magkakaroon ng meeting by tomorrow kasi may assignment po sa amin si DBM, titignan kung may pera, kung ano course ng funds. We will prepare JMC (joint memorandum circular) para sa ayuda para sa Metro Manila," said Tutay.

(The group headed by DSWD will have a meeting tomorrow because the DBM has an assignment with us wherein we will see if there is still a budget, and the course of funds. We will prepare JMC for financial aid in Metro Manila.)

Tutay said they are still expecting more calamities for the next few months of the year, which could need more funds for their financial aid program for displaced workers.

"Hopefully, I'm sure magagawan ng paraan ng pamahalaan iyan (I'm sure the government can address that)," she said.

From January 2021 to July 2021, Tutay disclosed that the permanently displaced workers in Metro Manila are at 152,957. With the two-week ECQ, DOLE sees about 127,000 additional workers will get unemployed.

Tutay said workers will lose their jobs as employers are expected to enforce flexible working arrangements and reduction of working days as well as workforce due to the lockdown restrictions.

Palace had announced that NCR would be placed under ECQ, which only allows essential businesses and travel, from August 6 to August 20, to mitigate the spread of the highly infectious Delta coronavirus

In a different data, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said the Philippine economy would lose P105 billion and 444,000 people will be left jobless for the duration of the two-week ECQ.—AOL, GMA News