MANILA – Close to 2 million Filipino workers including displaced overseas Filipino workers are set to benefit from the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said on Friday.
“With this additional budgetary allocation, we expect to aid 700,000 formal sector workers. We also looking to provide assistance to some 1 million informal workers,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in a Laging Handa briefing.
He added that some 200,000 overseas Filipino workers would also get cash aid as the government allocated PHP2 billion for the purpose.
Under the Bayanihan 2, the Department will be getting PHP13 billion to help workers cope with the effects of the pandemic.
The DOLE’s cash assistance programs include, the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) and Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program.
The CAMP provides a one-time cash subsidy of Php5,000.00 to formal sector workers affected by Covid-19.
Under TUPAD, beneficiaries were given the 10-day emergency employment and were paid the minimum wage prevailing in their respective areas.
Their job 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.
On the other hand, under the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program, OFWs will receive a one-time Php10,000 or $200 cash assistance.
Beneficiaries of the program are OFWs displaced by the pandemic who are abroad and stranded in the country.