ALMOST five million workers were able to get assistance from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in 2021 as the world continued to deal with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
In his year-end report, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III disclosed that 4.707 million distressed formal and informal workers, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), were able to get the DOLE’s pandemic assistance.
“The Department further intensified the implementation of its social amelioration programs to help affected workers recover. They have benefitted from the P26.1 billion worth of social protection assistance,” Bello said.
Getting the highest amount of financial assistance at P10.894 billion are 2.173 million workers in private establishments under the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), a one-time P5,000 financial assistance to affected formal sector workers in private establishments.
Having the second highest share are the 1.993 million informal sector workers as the government shelled out P9.62 billion for the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program.
TUPAD is an emergency employment assistance wherein informal sector workers are paid with the minimum wage prevailing in their respective regions.
As for OFWs, Bello said P5.487 billion have been provided to 540,876 OFWs under the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program.
AKAP is a one-time US$200.00 or P10,000 cash aid to displaced sea-based and land-based OFWs.
