DOLE spreads Php35.5-M in TUPAD aid to 13 typhoon-hit Capiz towns

The Department of Labor and Employment Regional Office 6 through its Capiz Field Office (DOLE RO6-CFO) released a total of Php35.514 million for the wages of 7,239 “Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) beneficiaries affected by Tropical Storm “Paeng” from the different municipalities of Capiz Province.

“This is our continuing effort to alleviate and to assist the livelihood of marginalized sector hit by disaster. We are reaching out to the different municipalities of the region to provide emergency employment to affected informal workers. This is a way to bring the services to those who are in need,” DOLE-6 Regional Director Atty. Sixto T. Rodriguez Jr. said.

The beneficiaries included 6,234 from the city of Roxas and the municipalities of Panay, Pilar, Panitan, Pontevedra, Maayon, Tapaz, Cuartero, Sigma, Dumarao, Mambusao, Sapian, Ivisan, and Jamindan.

They received the bulk of the assistance amounting to Php30.584 million.

“We commit to deliver a fast and immediate services to our partners and stakeholders and to continually provide a responsive program towards a more sustainable community. TUPAD is a realization to the proverbial, “if you give a man a fish, you have feed him for a day but if you teach him how to fish, you have fed him for a lifetime,” because this teaches the beneficiaries to work in order to earn,” said Director Joselito G. Dela Banda, the new DOLE RO6-CFO Head.

The beneficiaries were very happy with the emergency employment program of DOLE that provided them with immediate relief.

“This is a great way to start year 2023, we did not expect to receive the assistance this early. Thank you for TUPAD and DOLEs program and services,” said one of the beneficiaries.

The Php4,500 wages for a ten-day community service were of big help to the beneficiaries. Some utilized it to buy their household needs; others in buying school supplies and for the repair of their homes.