The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it has no discrimination in extending assistance to all workers who have been affected by the ongoing pandemic.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the program also includies members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) community.
Bello said the Department will provide all needy workers the financial aid through its key programs such as its flagship Tulong Panghanapbuhay para sa ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD).
"TUPAD is for all workers, so one will get the financial assistance whether he or she belongs to LGBTQ," Bello said during a payout ceremony in Sinoloan, Laguna last week.
"The government is here to help. We are going around the country to provide relief to our needy workers," he added.
TUPAD is the cash-for-work program of the government to help informal workers cope with the adverse effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.
Bello led the distribution of salaries amounting to P4.076 million to 1,019 beneficiaries in Sinoloan. He also awarded P1 million in DOLE livelihood assistance to four barangays of the municipality.
Aside from TUPAD, DOLE's various livelihood and employment programs were also extended to crisis-hit workers in Laguna such as "Negosyo Cart," "Free Bicycle," and the Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP).
More government assistance was also awarded to displaced workers in the towns of Rizal, Alaminos, Liliw, and Pagsanjan.