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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Uh oh: DOLE suspends 'TUPAD' in QC District 2 over irregularities in aid distribution

Uh oh: DOLE suspends 'TUPAD' in QC District 2 over irregularities in aid distribution

Published Sep 3, 2021 04:26 pm

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III has suspended the implementation of the emergency employment program for displaced workers in Quezon City District 2 amid reports of anomalies in the distribution of cash aid.

DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III (Photo from DOLE Facebook page)

"Pina-hold ko muna ang implementation ng TUPAD program dahil kung ganoon nga ang nangyayari, hindi nakakarating ang tulong natin sa taumbayan (I am holding the implementation of TUPAD program because if the complaints are true, then our help is not reaching the intended beneficiaries)," Bello said in an interview over DZRH on Friday, Sept. 3.

The labor chief was referring to DOLE's Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program which aims to provide livelihoods amid the pandemic.

Bello said he also put on hold the distribution of some P59 million allotted for beneficiaries under the program in the district.

Some TUPAD beneficiaries in Barangay Holy Spirit earlier sought help from local officials over alleged irregularities in the TUPAD implementation where they were supposedly paid short of their salary.

The complainants claimed they only got P2,000 instead of the P7,518 payout.

A coordinator of the program said she was instructed by a certain Jackie Sales to accompany the beneficiaries in claiming the cash aid in a remittance center and deduct P5,518 from it.

According to the coordinator, she handed to Sales over P198,000 in total deduction from the salaries of 36 beneficiaries, which the latter said will be turned over to the office of Quezon City District 2 Representative Precious Hipolito-Castelo.

The specific program in Barangay Holy Spirit is supposedly being implemented in partnership with the office of Castelo. The congresswoman already denied the allegations and vowed to probe the issue.

In a media forum also on Friday, DOLE Information and Publication Service Director Rolly Francia said Bello directed the agency's National Capital Region (NCR) office to investigate the matter and verify the complaints.

"Ito ang vinavalidate natin sa ngayon (This is what we are validating now). We cannot tolerate this essentially because we are depriving the rightful beneficiaries of assistance," Francia added.

The DOLE official also called on the involved beneficiaries to formally file a complaint to the agency to further help in the investigation.

"We are calling on the complainants to go straight to us or to the regional office of DOLE for you to be able to file a complaint and we will do the rest of the investigation," he said.

Related Tags

Quezon City Rep. Precious Hipolito-Castelo district 2 Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/ Displaced Workers (TUPAD) barangay holy spirit Department of Labor and Employment aid distribution dole
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