CITING inadequate funding, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Thursday said it is suspending the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) intended for formal sector workers affected by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon.
In a statement, Labor Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay said the department has have decided to stop accepting applications for the one-time financial assistance to affected workers.
“Effective 1700 hours (5 p.m.) of 15 April 2020, the Department of Labor and Employment ceased to accept online application for the P5,000.00 financial assistance for formal sector workers under the CAMP,” said Tutay.
In an interview, Tutay said funds are insufficient to pursue the program. “We have not received an actual approval of our budget request. It would have provided aid to around 500,000 more workers,” she said.
“We appeal for the full understanding of all employers and workers who submitted their CAMP applications but have yet to receive the assistance, which ballooned beyond the capacity of DOLE’s resources,” she added.
Since the implementation of CAMP last March 23, Tutay said the DOLE has been able to provide financial assistance to 236,412 workers from 10,663 establishments, with a total cash disbursement of P1.2 billion.
Tutay said that still in the pipeline are 85,563 more workers to be provided with cash assistance. However, she said, the P1.6 billion initial allocation for the program is now “very close to being depleted.”
As of April 13, the DOLE has recorded 1,428,841 workers displaced as reported by 52,993 establishments.
Tutay said DOLE is now closely coordinating with the Department of Finance in relation to new and pending applications of establishments and workers.
The DOF is set to implement a P51-billion wage subsidy under its Small Business Wage Subsidy program (SBWS), which targets to aid some 3.4 million workers in small businesses affected by the ECQ.
“We are hoping that after this CAMP, the DOF can accommodate our countrymen that applied for CAMP but weren’t accommodated due to the lack of funds of DOLE,” said Tutay.
COMPLIANT FIRMS
The DOF said it will prioritize the provision of financial subsidy to employees of small enterprises that are tax compliant and which regularly remit their workers’ social security contributions.
During the daily “Laging Handa” public briefing, Finance Assistant Secretary Raul Lambino said priority will be given to employees who have not received their salaries for at least two weeks because their companies have temporarily shut down or are operating with a skeletal force due to the lockdown.
Employees of companies that regularly pay their obligations to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Social Security System (SSS) will also be prioritized, Lambino said.
Lambino said owners of small businesses will also receive some support from the government in the form of grace periods for payment of loans and rents, among others.
The DOF subsidy program is expected to be implemented in May.
TAX EXEMPT AND ITR FILING
BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa, in the same briefing, said companies that have donated or will donate to government efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 will enjoy tax exemptions as well as waived dues for imported health and medical supplies that will be being donated to front liners.
Guballa said government has also shortened the process for the release of imported health and medical supplies.
GOVERNMENT RESOURCES
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque assured formal sector workers that the government still has resources it can tap to fund the cash aid for them.
Roque said President Duterte has the authority to realign the 2020 budget if the need arises and could tap some P195 billion from government-owned and controlled corporations.
“The depleted DOLE budget is just temporary. If we realign the budget, it can be replenished,” he said in Filipino.
Roque also said Duterte is open to the idea of cancelling some infrastructure projects to free up more funds. The government has allowed over P1 trillion for various infrastructure projects this year.
“The message of the President is to use the taxpayers’ money. If needed, the President said last Tuesday he will halt all infrastructure projects if we need to spend public funds to provide food and other needs of our fellow Filipinos,” he said. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
