An official of the Department of Labor and Employment said the agency is looking to pay the remainder of the 1.4 million target beneficiaries under its Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) next week.
“We have 1.1 million current applications for CAMP. We already paid about 350,000 workers as of Thursday. By next week, we will be reaching more than 50 percent, 60 to 70 percent that will be a good batting average,” Labor Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay said in a virtual forum yesterday.
Under CAMP, formal sector workers will get a one-time cash subsidy amounting to P5,000.00.
On the other hand, she said at least over 500,000 informal sector workers are set to benefit under Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers or Tupad program.
Tutay revealed that the allocation under Bayanihan 2, or Bayanihan to Recover as One, is P6 billion.
Under the program, beneficiaries will be provided emergency employment for two weeks and will be paid based on the prevailing minimum wage in the area they are employed.
The target deadline for all the payouts is on December 19.
Meanwhile, the DOLE said the easing of the country’s unemployment rate in October is a result of the government’s relentless efforts in assisting workers affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
“As the Department of Labor and Employment celebrates its 87th Founding Anniversary next week, the result of the October 2020 Labor Force Survey comes as a humble affirmation of our goal of productive and gainfully employed Filipino workers. With the unemployment rate easing down at 8.7 percent or equivalent to 3.8 million unemployed, we are one with the entire Duterte administration in its resolve for the gradual rebound of the economy,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in a statement.
He was referring to the three major programs, namely Camp, Tupad, and Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong, that aim to ease the effects of the crisis on Filipino workers.
“We are fast-tracking the implementation of our P13-billion safety net programs for the formal and informal sector workers, including the returning overseas Filipino workers under Bayanihan 1 or Bayanihan 2, to cushion the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. While the economy continues to reopen, we also recognize that business is still struggling to recover,” Bello added.
He said they continue to facilitate employment services with initiatives, such as Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan, Balik-Trabaho Online Job Fair, and youth employability programs, namely the Special Program for Employment of Students and the Government Internship Program.
“We also continuously update policies affecting workers and businesses to contain the spread of Covid-19 and eventually lessen its impacts through strict adherence to minimum health standards in the workplace,” he said.
He added that the DOLE is one with the entire government in the implementation of the “Prevent, Detect, Isolate, Treat, and Recover” strategy, and in efforts to ensure safe and sufficient public transport to enable more businesses to reopen and more workers to return to work and make a living.
Bello also said the DOLE, in coordination with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, has initiated the development and implementation of the National Employment Recovery Strategy, an expanded TNK that serves as the blueprint for decent employment and entrepreneurship in the new normal. “Various government agencies have been consulted and supported the initiative and targets to be rolled out in 2021 as part of the whole-of-nation approach for full economic recovery,” he said.*PNA