ABOUT 1,232 displaced workers from the 5th District of Negros Occidental began their orientation for the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (Tupad), one of the social services projects of Representative Ma. Lourdes Arroyo together with the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole).
During the three-day event, displaced workers from the municipalities of La Castellana, Isabela, Hinigaran, Binalbagan, and Moises Padilla and the City of Himamaylan attended their orientation in their respective areas.
The event was also joined by Nicole Arroyo Jacinto, who represented her mother Congresswoman Arroyo, with Dole and City and Barangay officials.
The beneficiaries of the Tupad program will be employed for 15 working days and will receive a minimum wage of P365 per day or a total of P5,475, including P256 for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and P50 insurance for the Government Service Insurance System.
They will be engaged in community projects such as repair, maintenance and improvement of public utilities and infrastructures; de-clogging of canals, debris clearing and rehabilitation of farm-to-market roads and similar facilities; and tree planting, seedling preparation and other agro-forestry community projects.
In her speech, Jacinto affirmed her mother's strong commitment to help the hardworking people of the 5th District.
"My mother knows from the heart how hardworking the people of the 5th District are. Especially since we, the Arroyos, are from here. She knows that with the current situation, there are not enough jobs available. But she is always there, working really hard in Congress to help you and to bring progress -- the progress you deserve to our district," she said.
Tupad is a community-based package of assistance program of Dole that provides emergency employment for displaced workers, as well those that are self-employed, underemployed or unemployed.
The program also reaches out to individuals who have lost their livelihood
because of natural calamities or disasters.