Assistance to displaced workers to be disbursed thru ‘kwarta padala’

4Ps beneficiaries already received their cash assistance for the COVID-19 crisis last April 4, 2020. | DSWD photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Local government units in Cebu will be helping displaced workers to avail of the assistance programs of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said workers belonging to both the formal and informal economies and whose families may not be accommodated in the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Social Amelioration Program may still apply for the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program or the Barangay Ko, Bahay Ko (BK-BK) Disinfection project offered by the labor department.

Garcia said employees belonging to the formal economy who were laid off or been made to undergo forced leave due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis will only need to submit their latest payslip that reflects their name and their employer to their LGU.

The LGUs will forward the document to the DOLE who will assess the document.

Once validated, Garcia said the employees will receive a one-time P5,000 cash assistance from DOLE. The amount will be disbursed through money transfer or kwarta padala.

For informal workers such as laundrywomen and vendors among others, they may apply for the BK-BK program still through their LGUs.

Under the program, they will be tasked to clean and disinfect the vicinity of their houses for 10 days wherein they will be paid P404 per day. Their compensations will still be disbursed through money transfer.

During the multisectoral meeting with the mayors last Tuesday, April 7, 2020, Cebu mayors have been asked to come up and submit with the list of the households in their jurisdiction.

The list of households also indicates the profiles of the families particularly their livelihood industry in order to match them with the assistance programs of other government agencies.

Apart from the DSWD and DOLE, the other government agencies that offer assistance programs amid the COVID-19 crisis are the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs); the Department of Agriculture (DA) for farmers and fisherfolks; and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) for public utility vehicle drivers who lost their livelihood due to the suspension of public transport amid the enhanced community quarantine that is in effect in the entire province. /rcg