Aid for local, overseas workers to continue in Bayanihan 2

Tutay is also hopeful that the bill will soon be passed into law which will provide for the second tranche of the benefits under CAMP and AKAP to continue particularly to those who were not able to receive the first tranche. (File: PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA – Employment programs for displaced Filipino workers both local and abroad will continue under the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2), a labor official said Thursday.

In a Laging Handa briefing, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay said the programs of the government, particularly in giving cash and employment assistance, will benefit all workers who were affected by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

“We have recommended for the DOLE-Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program to be included in the Bayanihan to Recover as One bill for the benefit of informal sector workers. We continue to provide assistance to formal sector workers under Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) and the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs),” she said.

Tutay added that there is a condition for employers to be able to avail of the wage subsidy under CAMP, the owners of the establishments should accept the employees who were displaced.

“There is a twist for formal sector under CAMP program, we want to provide the establishments with wage subsidy but the consideration is before they will be given the wage subsidy, they have to accept their workers,” she said.

Tutay is also hopeful that the bill will soon be passed into law which will provide for the second tranche of the benefits under CAMP and AKAP to continue particularly to those who were not able to receive the first tranche.

Under the TUPAD program, beneficiaries are given the 10-day emergency employment and are paid the minimum wage prevailing in their respective areas.

The CAMP provides a one-time cash subsidy of PHP5,000 to formal sector workers affected by the pandemic.

On the other hand, the DOLE-AKAP is a one-time cash assistance worth PHP10,000 intended for displaced land-based and sea-based (regular/undocumented) workers, returning workers (Balik Manggagawa) to their job sites but were stranded in the Philippines.

Early in June, the House Committee of the Whole has passed House Bill No. 6953 or the Bayanihan 2 bill.