The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has allocated PhP 3.34 billion for the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) 2019 Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged (TUPAD). This is 106 percent more than its 2018 allocation of PhP 1.62 billion.

With a target of 289,602 beneficiaries in 2019, TUPAD aims to provide assistance and emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed, and seasonal workers. The length of the program varies on the nature of work to be performed, while also not exceeding a maximum of 30 days and a minimum of 10 days.

To identify beneficiaries, DOLE gives priority to: (a) indigent families under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction; (b) Informal sector families; and (c) those under the next lower poverty level, as determined by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

TUPAD is also being tapped by the DOLE to provide emergency employment to workers affected by Typhoon Ompong. This year, about PhP 44 million has been set aside for  the provision of salaries and benefits to workers affected by Typhoon Ompong in Region II, broken down as follows: Batanes (PhP 4,002,000) for 1,160 workers, Isabela (PhP 20,003,100) for 5,798 workers, Cagayan (PhP 15,000,600) for 4,348 workers, Nueva Vizcaya (PhP 1,035,000) for 300 workers, Quirino (PhP 2,001,000) for 580 workers, and Tuguegarao City (PhP 2,001,000) for 580 workers.

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