Desperate times like the upcoming two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the National Capital Region (NCR) call for creative budgeting on the part of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), especially if it wants to give cash aid to displaced workers in a timely manner.
DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III had bared plans to revive the agency's one-time cash assistance program dubbed the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program or CAMP in order to allow for dole outs of P5,000 each to qualified workers from the formal sector.
In line with this, Bello wrote the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Tuesday, Aug. 3 to request for P2 billion that would be used for CAMP in time for the reimposition of ECQ in NCR or Metro Manila from Aug. 6 to 20. Earlier, Assistant Secretary Dominique Rubia-Tutay estimated that the number of workers in NCR who will be affected by the ECQ would reach 300,000 to 400,000.
Not one to put all eggs in one basket--and also mindful of the dire situation facing the soon-to-be displaced Metro workers--the Gattaran, Cagayan-born Bello opted to tap the dwindling funds of another DOLE program called Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) so that they may facilitate aid even with no response yet from DBM.
Director Rolly Francia of the agency's Information and Publication Service (IPS) said in a virtual press briefing Wednesday, Aug. 4 that only P4 billion worth of funds are left under TUPAD for the remainder of 2021. Out of the P4 billion, P2 billion will be used for purposes of the ECQ "ayuda", he said.
TUPAD, unlike the dole out-centric CAMP, is a cash-for-work program. It provides emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed, and seasonal workers for a minimum period of 10 days, but not to exceed a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work to be performed.
"We are still in mid-year, hindi pa natin alam kung anong delubyo, typhoon, or kung anong kalamidad ang ating daraanan (we will don't know what type of deluge, typhoon, or disaster we would need to face). Having said that, handa si Sec. Bebot na itaya yung pondo na 'yan, kumbaga sana i-advance muna para doon sa mga mangangailangan na formal sector workers (Sec. Bebot is ready to take a risk with these funds in order to deliver the aid in advance to formal sector workers)," Francia said, explaining his Ilocano boss's frame of thinking.
Should the DBM provide DOLE with its requested P2 billion, then the money would used to replenish the TUPAD budget.
Bello, in a statement Wednesday, said, "Formal sector workers who lose their job or get reduced salary are eligible beneficiaries of TUPAD. If formal sector workers lose their job, they will fall under the disadvantaged or displaced workers category. Those with reduced income due to reduction of workdays or work hours are also considered disadvantaged or displaced because they did not get their full salary for the entire month."
But what kind of jobs would be given to TUPAD beneficiaries under the ECQ, which comes with strict stay-at-home directives?
Francia said DOLE has shown creativity in the past when faced with this challenge, like when it employed people to disinfect homes against the deadly coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
However, for the upcoming ECQ implementation, he said the program beneficiaries would likely be tapped to assist in the contact-tracing efforts of the government against COVID-19. He noted that this could be done at home via digital means.
And since the minimum daily wage in NCR is just above P500, a 10-day tenure under TUPAD would give each beneficiary a payout of over P5,000--not far off from what they would have received under CAMP.
Francia said that 40 percent of the P2 billion would be allocated for displaced workers in NCR, while the rest would be split by the other regions in the country that are either under ECQ or modified ECQ (MECQ).