BUTUAN CITY - - The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has not stopped in providing assistance to displaced and affected workers of Agusan del Sur even as the country is slowly recovering from the impact brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Initially, 2,352 displaced and affected workers availed of the emergency employment program of the agency.
These workers received emergency employment assistance through the DOLE Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Displaced/Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) implementation.
This translates to a total of ₱11,129,600.00 worth of salaries.
On top of this, packages of assistance were awarded to beneficiaries which include personal protective equipment and accident insurance coverage for one year.
This year, emergency work of TUPAD beneficiaries started as early as March and since last month, DOLE Agusan del Sur Field Office (ADSFO) has released salaries to 778 TUPAD beneficiaries from the municipalities of San Francisco, Esperanza, San Luis, Bunawan, Trento and the province’s lone city of Bayugan.
“The agency continues to hold a series of onsite salary payments to address the transportation needs of beneficiaries from far-flung areas,” DOLE 13 Regional Director Joffrey M. Suyao said.
DOLE ADSFO is doing its best to expedite the processing and release of TUPAD salaries so that the beneficiaries can provide the needs of their families, it said.
“Our TUPAD coordinators are closely coordinating with our partners, the PESO Managers to comply with the needed documentary requirements as soon as possible, which are requisite to the processing of salaries,” said DOLE Provincial Field Office Head Mr. Maximo C. Magallen Jr.
TUPAD is a safety net program that provides temporary wage employment to the workers in the informal sector, particularly the unpaid family workers and self-employed workers who were affected by the pandemic.
Amidst the challenges brought by the pandemic, DOLE stood its ground for its clientele by immediately addressing their needs to the best of the organization’s ability and with its frontliners working tirelessly to fulfill the mandate given by the government and to serve the people of Agusan del Sur, DOLE 13 Administrative Assistant 1 and Regional Information Officer Ms. Anya Pernelle B. Sollano also said.