The Department of Labor and Employment will now have more time to distribute aid to workers.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the extension of the validity of the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2) enables the DOLE to reach out and extend benefits to more workers.
"We can now use our budgetary allocation even beyond December 19," he said in a press briefing Wednesday.
"We now have more time to implement the payout to our workers," Bello added.
Bello earlier instructed labor officials to hasten the distribution of the P16.4 billion assistance allocated for the workers displaced by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic before the expiration of Bayanihan 2 on December 19.
Last December 7, the DOLE said more than 93 percent of the P16-billion allocation for the assistance to workers in the formal and informal sectors, including OFWs, has been downloaded to their regional and overseas offices in the run up to the expiration of Bayanihan 2 on December 19.
The amount of P16.4 billion has been allocated for the recovery programs Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) for formal sector, Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) for informal sector, and the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program for overseas Filipino workers, and livelihood assistance under DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP).
CAMP provides a one-time financial assistance of P5,000 to affected workers in private establishments.
As for TUPAD, it aims to provide temporary wage employment to workers in the informal sector who were displaced or whose earnings were affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
DOLE has also been extending a one-time P10,000 or $200 cash aid under the AKAP program to OFWs whose incomes were affected by the pandemic.