To help workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has poured in P6.3 million in livelihood assistance to various workers' associations in Region 4-B or the Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan (MIMAROPA) region.
Beneficiaries were fishers associations, coconut farmers, tricycle drivers, motorcycle shop workers, women’s groups, and displaced workers.
According to DOLE, 96 members from a fishers organization and tricycle drivers association received P725,000 assistance from the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP) in Mindoro.
In Romblon, the Sta. Maria Coconut Farmers and Processing Association (SMCFPA), the first producer of coconut oil in the province, received a P1-million livelihood assistance for production of high value-added coconut products, and the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) helped them in producing quality cooking oil.
In Occidental Mindoro, the Samahan ng mga Inang Nagkakaisa ng Tahanan Association (SINTA) received P500,000 assistance for their bakery project.
Five-hundred displaced workers in Occidental Mindoro received P1.6 million from the DOLE Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program.
Five-thousand, seven-hundred sixty-five worker-beneficiaries in the province had earlier received emergency employment assistance since April.
The Labor department released P1.5 million emergency employment assistance to informal workers in Concepcion, Romblon. The workers received daily wage assistance through the TUPAD or emergency employment program.
The beneficiaries rendered 10-day work such as sanitation and disinfection, including repacking and distribution of relief goods in their community. Each beneficiary received P3,200 based on the prevailing minimum wage in the region.
TUPAD program is a community-based package of short-term wage employment assistance of the department to mitigate the impact of calamities, disasters, as well as pandemic, on workers in the informal economy.