ECQ affected workers may receive cash assistance this week
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced that enhanced community quarantine affected workers may receive cash assistance this week.
DOLE targets to give to qualified beneficiaries the P1.5 billion budget from the government amid the ongoing ECQ due to COVID-19. During the recent interview on teleradyo program Dobol B sa News TV, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced that DOLE has already provided financial assistance worth P441 million in various parts of the country.
The agency has done this in order to alleviate the financial needs of workers who were not able to go to work due to the ECQ. “Ito nabigyan na sila so dumadami na. Ine-expect namin, within the week, itong week na ito, makapagbigay kami, ang preferred naming amount is P1.5 billion,” Secretary Belo added.
The agency’s head also said that they have been coming up with several measures in order to help laborers whose works were imperiled when the enhanced community quarantine was implemented.
One example of this is the program for tricycle drivers as their operation was halted at the start of the Luzon-wide community quarantine. Through the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged or Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program, these laborers were able to receive financial assistance.
Furthermore, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) who are forced to return to the Philippines, was given cash assistance as well. “‘Yung mga OFW na nagdadatingan, siyempre unang-una, ma-quarantine ‘yung mga ‘yan for 14 days. Kaya punung-puno na itong mga hotels natin. Nag-alok naman si Sec. [Carlito] Galvez,” Belo said.
Aside from them, those who are working in hotels, resorts and restaurants that were temporarily shut down are also beneficiaries of this program from DOLE. Based on the report, the cash assistance will “computed based on the prevailing regional minimum wages rates.”
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