A total of 268 members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) community were hired under the government’s emergency employment program Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD).
The TUPAD platform is a flagship program under the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) that provides temporary employment to informal sector workers and vulnerable workers affected by natural or man-made calamities.
This includes members of the LGBTQIA+ community who lost jobs and livelihood in the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to DOLE, at least 136 LGBT beneficiaries of TUPAD were given P4,500 each for rendering a 10-day community service in Olongapo City and Zambales.
The DOLE Mindanao also distributed P316,000 to 100 LGBTQIA+ beneficiaries from Pagadian City, Zamboanga Del Sur which received P3,160 apiece.
In Tanza, Cavite, 32 beneficiaries along with senior citizens belonging to the LGBTQIA+ were integrated into the government’s emergency employment program. The beneficiaries rendered 10-day community services and received a salary of P4,350 apiece.
LGBT Pilipinas Cavite Chapter President Rafael Capacio thanked the DOLE’s TUPAD program for empowering the LGBTQIA+ in the government’s flagship programs.
“Happy ako kasi pati mga Senior Citizens na LGBT natulungan natin (I am happy because we are able to help, even our members belonging to senior citizens),” Capacio said.
Meanwhile, LGBT Pilipinas Partylist National President Gerald “Dindi” Tan told Manila Bulletin that they were expecting wider integration of TUPAD programs for the LGBTQIA+ community across the country.
“Hopefully these coming days we can come and visit our LGBT community all over the country. The TUPAD program of the Labor Department is intended to help our marginalized sector by providing emergency employment, especially to displaced workers and those who lost livelihood by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Tan told Manila Bulletin.
Tan is also the Executive Director of the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO).
Under the DOLE's TUPAD program, beneficiaries are entitled to receive a salary of P3,400 to P5,100 depending on the length of service. Workers will be employed for a minimum period of 10 days but not exceeding 30 days.