DOLE offices open during Holy Week to distribute cash aid

Nograles said DOLE is no longer strictly requiring the submission of the company payroll in the establishment report. (File photo by Ramon FVelasquez/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will remain open during the Holy Week to ensure the speedy release of financial assistance to workers affected by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Wednesday.

Nograles, who also serves as spokesperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), said DOLE field offices will continue processing establishment reports during the Holy Week to hasten the distribution of cash assistance to displaced workers.

“Bukas po ang ating mga DOLE offices kahit Holy Week para ma-proseso ang mga CAMP (Covid-10 Adjustment Measures Program) applications po ninyo (The DOLE offices are open even during the Holy Week to process the workers’ CAMP applications),” he said during the virtual presser aired on state-run PTV-4.

Under CAMP, displaced workers can avail of one-time PHP5,000 cash assistance.

Nograles said around 139,003 workers have already benefitted from DOLE’s cash aid program.

He said there was an agreement with state-owned LandBank of the Philippines to expedite the release and remittance of funds for displaced workers through their branches and automated teller machines (ATMs) nationwide.

Employers are initially required to submit requirements to DOLE for the granting of cash assistance to their employees.

Following complaints against employers who did not process the applications of their employees, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III earlier advised workers to directly contact DOLE to receive the cash assistance.

Nograles said DOLE is no longer strictly requiring the submission of the company payroll in the establishment report.

“Any proof of payment of salaries and wages will be sufficient compliance with the requirement,” he said.

DOLE earlier bared that more than 600,000 workers have been displaced due to Covid-19.

On Monday night, the IATF-EID approved the PHP5-billion budget that would be allocated for DOLE’s CAMP, Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Displaced or Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) Sanitation Project, and the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) program.

OFWs who returned to the Philippines and have concerns can contact Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and DOLE, Nograles said.

“OWWA or DOLE. Paki-contact lang po kasi sila yung inatasan na rin ng IATF to take care of the concerns of lahat ng ating OFWs (Contact either OWWA or DOLE. Contact them because they are tasked by the IATF to take care of the concerns of all OFWs),” he said.