Some 300 qualified beneficiaries of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers Barangay Ko, Bahay Ko (TUPAD-BKBK) Sanitation Project in Tubungan town, Iloilo received aid from the government during a two-day distribution which ended on Friday, April 17.
DOLE’s TUPAD-BKBK is an emergency employment program for underemployed, self-employed, and displaced marginalized workers who have lost their livelihood or source of income due to the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, said Emelyn Estando-Tano, Public Employment Service Office (PESO)-Tubungan head.
The aid amounting to P3,950 was individually distributed to beneficiaries by the PESO-Tubungan with security from the Regional Mobile Force Battalion in Western Visayas.
“This is a two-day distribution and we covered 300 beneficiaries. All in all, we disbursed P1,185,000,” she said.
The beneficiaries consisted of transport drivers, view deck vendors at their tourist site in Barangay Igtuble, and tour guides who sanitized their homes and have been paid with P395 daily for 10 days starting April 6.
She noted the TUPAD BKBK did not only help the displaced workers but ensured that households of beneficiaries and their villages are free from COVID-19.
PESO-Tubungan is anticipating another batch of BKBK beneficiaries targeted to be employed as laborers or construction workers.
Estando-Tano, however, said they will await the implementation of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)’s social amelioration program to identify those who are not covered.
“The DOLE BKBK will cover those who are assessed to qualify and is not included in the DSWD’S amelioration program,” she said.
She said the 300 informal workers in Tubungan were the first in Iloilo province to avail of the DOLE’s TUPAD project.
As of Wednesday, the DOLE 6 said the TUPAD-BKBK has 2, 567 beneficiaries covering 424 villages in the region.Gail Momblan/PNA
