AROUND 628,785 workers in Central Visayas have already received their wages totalling to P2.81 billion from the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced workers (Tupad) program of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) last year.
According to the agency, Cebu Province had the highest number of Tupad beneficiaries, with 280,000 workers receiving their salaries for a total of P1.2 million.
The Province of Bohol came in second with 130,386 of its beneficiaries received their wages in the amount of P556,000.
Next is the highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue that have a combined 101,923 workers who received over P440,000 in Tupad salaries.
In the province of Negros Oriental, around 97,222 workers have benefited from the program and they were paid over half a million of pesos in wages. In Siquijor, around 19,254 Tupad beneficiaries were paid about P82,000 in wages.
In a statement, officials of the Dole 7 said that the Tupad beneficiaries received P435 per day, which is above the minimum daily wage rate in Central Visayas which is at P425.
The agency has also covered the Group Accident Personal Insurance of those who received the aid for up to one year, including the distribution of personal protective equipment designed for the nature of work of their projects.
Dole 7 Acting Director Lilia A. Estillore said implementing the program in 2022 was challenging due to the damage caused by Typhoon Odette (Rai) as those in-charge of implementing Tupad were also affected by the calamity.
But the Dole 7 was able to tap the work of Tupad beneficiaries to help facilitate the rehabilitation of the areas devastated the most by the typhoon, Estillore added.
Tupad is an emergency employment program of Dole aimed to provide work assistance for the displaced, underemployed, and seasonal workers.
These also include laid-off or terminated workers due to retrenchment or permanent closure of business or establishment and self-employed workers such as farmers and fishermen who have lost their livelihood due to natural calamities and disasters.
Selected beneficiaries have to work for the government for a minimum of 10 days up to maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work given that varies from social community projects, economic community projects, and agro-forestry community projects.
These jobs include repair, maintenance, and development of common public facilities and infrastructure, tree-planting and reforestation, and other more.