More than one million workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic have received cash assistance from the Department of Labor and Employment.
It said these workers belong to the formal and informal sectors, including overseas Filipino workers.
In a report to President Duterte, DoLE said its assistance programs reached 1,059, 387 workers and have disbursed about P4.44 billion of its regular budget and a separate P1.05 billion in emergency fund.
DoLE said 618,722 formal sector workers from 31,972 micro, small, and medium enterprises were extended the P5,000 cash assistance under the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program.
DoLE said it spent P3.093 billion from its 2020 budget for the one-time assistance program.
“An additional 35,723 workers are expected to benefit from the cash aid as the CAMP program wraps up its operations this week,” it said.
The CAMP was rolled out on March 23, and acceptance of requests for assistance by establishments was terminated on April 15 with the receipt of more than 1.6 million applications.
DoLE said 337,198 workers in the informal sector benefited from the 10-day emergency employment and were paid the minimum wage prevailing in their areas under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Displaced/Disadvantaged Workers, Barangay Ko Bahay Ko (TUPAD #BKBK) program.
The Labor department said some P1.348 billion of their regular budget was disbursed to finance the emergency employment program which involved the disinfection and sanitation of the beneficiaries’ dwellings and immediate vicinity to conform with the physical distancing protocol to prevent the spread of the virus. (Leslie Aquino)