More than 1,000 workers under the TUPAD program from Aloguinsan and Barili towns receive their cash aid or wages from the labor department. | Contributed photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Over 1,000 workers in the towns of Aloguinsan and Barili in southwestern Cebu have received their financial assistance and wages from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Friday afternoon, July 23, 2021.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III led the distribution to at least 1,224 workers in the towns of Aloguinsan and Barili, who are under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program of DOLE.
Of the 1,224 TUPAD beneficiaries, 1,113 of these were workers in the town of Barili while 121 were from the town of Aloguinsan.
The 10 beneficiaries of each of the towns were under the Cebu Provincial government.
For them alone, DOLE spent a total of P5,664,960.
TUPAD is a community-based package of assistance that provides emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers, for a minimum period of 10 days, but not to exceed a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work to be performed.
Apart from that, around 158 parents of profiled child laborers in Barili, who are under Kabuhayan Program, received their livelihood assistance package worth P16,000 to P30,000 for their individual livelihood starter kits (LSKs).
The assistance will be used to fund their livelihood projects on general merchandising, cattle and swine fattening, goat raising, buy and sell, among others.
A total of 43 overseas FIlipino workers (OFWs) also received their financial assistance from Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) amounting to P570,000 on Friday.
Of the 43 OFWs, 34 of these were from the towns of Barili and Dumanjug, while nine others were from Aloguinsan and Pinamungajan.
“Dili mo angay nga magpasalamat naku or ni bisan kinsa nga akong kauban sa DOLE tungod kay ang inyong madawat karon nga kwarta kung assistance, dili na gikan kang Presidente Duterte. Dili pud na gikan naku,” he said.
(You should not give thanks to me or to anybody from DOLE because the money you received as assistance is not from President Duterte. It also did not come from me.)
“Wala mo’y utang na loob nga huna-hunaon tungod kay ang inyong madawat karon… inyo gyud kanang kwarta. It’s your money,” said Bello to the workers on Friday at the Barili Sports Complex and Alodome Sports Complex in the town of Aloguinsan.
(You don’t owe anybody a debt of gratitude because what you received today … that is your money. It’s your money.)
Government officials and representatives from DOLE, DOLE-7, OWWA-7 attended the event.
Among them were Labor Undersecretary Renato Ebarle, DOLE-7 Director Salome Siaton, Acting OWWA-7 Director Mae Codilla, Rep. Pablo John Garcia, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and Board Member John Ismael Borgonia.
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