At least 22,000 workers affected by the more stringent alert level status in Metro Manila have already applied for the latest round of the Department of Labor and Employment's (DOLE) COVID-19 Adjustment Measure Program (CAMP).
In a virtual Laging Handa briefing on Thursday, Jan. 27, DOLE Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay said more than 5,000 applications have already been approved based on the valuation of the regional offices as of Wednesday, Jan. 26.
Of the total number of applications, Tutay said 12,000 are still under evaluation, while more than 4,000 are for further verification.
Under CAMP, the DOLE will provide a P5,000 one-time financial assistance to approved workers in the formal sector who have been displaced or suspended due to the declaration of Alert Level 3 or higher.
Meanwhile, Tutay advised applicants to ensure that all of their requirements are complete and also readable for swift approval of their application.
"Kapag na-deny, huwag kayo agad susuko kasi minsan may kailangan lang linawin doon sa application. Kaya i-submit lang kung ano man ang kaukulang dokumento para ma-approve ang inyong application (Don't lose hope if you are denied because sometimes they just need to clarify something in your application. So just submit all the required documents to get your application approved)," she added.
According to DOLE, private establishments may apply for cash aid on behalf of their employees, while individual workers can also apply for the assistance themselves.
The Department recently announced that it will allocate P1 billion for the grant of cash assistance to workers who will be displaced by the implementation of the stricter COVID alert level.
Based on DOLE's jobs displacement monitoring, a total of 11,586 workers were displaced from 759 establishments nationwide from Jan. 1 to 15 this year — majority or 687 have reduced its workforce, while 72 reported permanent closure.