THE Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) announced that it has stopped accepting online applications of the P5,000 financial assistance for the tourism sector under the Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (Camp).

The termination took effect on Monday, May 10, 2021.

Dole said it has already reached the number of beneficiaries for the P3.1 billion assistance fund with 215,000 more applications still being processed by regional offices.

This prompted Dole and the Department of Tourism to announce the termination of acceptance of application for the assistance program.

Dole said more than 520,000 displaced workers in the tourism sector benefited from the government’s Camp.

As of May 9, 2021, the labor department has approved the application of 503,616 workers from 17,607 establishments, organizations and associations nationwide, while 17,408 workers in the tourism sector who have applied individually have also been identified as beneficiaries.

The Dole has remitted P1,773,740,000 to payment centers for 354,748 worker beneficiaries while the remaining 166,276 approved applications equivalent to a total of P831,380,000 are scheduled for disbursement.

Dole’s advisory noted that it will still be evaluating and processing payment of the remaining applications.

On the other hand, Dole-information and publication service director Rolly Francia clarified that pending the approval of the Bayanihan 3 Law, the department is not expecting any other additional funding for the said financial amelioration program for the workers.

Camp is a one-time financial support of P5,000 to Covid-19-affected workers in private establishments. (JOB)