200 Apaliteños benefit from Tupad program
APALIT - More than 200 residents of this town ended their 2021 productively after participating in the Department of Labor and Employment’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Disadvantaged/ Displaced Workers (TUPAD) pr ogr am.
Under the said program, a total of 206 residents from different barangays conducted ten days of community work such as sweeping the roads and pulling off weeds.
In turn, the program beneficiaries received P4,200 salary after they culminated their emergency work on December 30.
The payout, held at the municipal hall grounds, was led by Senator Joel Villanueva, Mayor Oscar Tetangc,o Jr. and other local offici al s.
Villanueva, who secured the funding for the said program, stressed the importance of emergency employment program especially during this time of pandemic when some Filipinos are still recovering from loss of employment or livelihood.
“Gusto natin personal na makita ang implementation ng TUPAD program because we are the ones responsible for fighting it out in the Senate. From P6-billion in 2020, we were able to increase the budget to P19-billion this 2021 para mas maraming matulungan na displaced Filipino workers,” he said.
Villanueva added that the nearly P900,000-budget distributed in this town are just part of the around P25-million funding for TUPAD downloaded to Pampanga for this year.
To further strengthen the TUPAD, the senator said he filed a bill in the Senate that will institutionalize the program, have longer days of implementation, and include a training activity to enhance the skills of beneficiaries.
“Ang target natin ay hindi lang sila mapasweldo, kundi mabigyan ng training para pagkatapos nila sa program, makahanap sila ng regular na trabaho kasi naniniwala tayo na ang trabaho ang bakuna kontra sa kahirapan,” Villanueva said.
Meanwhile, aside from bringing assistance to displaced workers, Villanueva also shared a good news to overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and their families in this town and around the country as the bill creating a department for OFWs has been signed into l aw.
The bill, which
Villanueva is one of the proponents, will absorb the functions of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and will be tasked to protect the rights of migrant workers.
“Ngayon mas magkakaroon na ng focus at hindi na malilito ang ating mga kababayan na OFWs. Mas matutukan na rin ang issue ng illegal recruitment, at magkakaroon ng sariling budget sa pangangailangan ng ating mga migrant workers so talagang laser focus sa pagsisilbi at pagkalinga sa ating mga OFWs,” he said.
Tetangco, for his part, expressed gratitude to Villanueva for creating worthwhile programs that benefits not only Apaliteños but all Filipinos.
“Nagp ap asal am at kami dahil hindi lang programa ang ibinababa kundi pati mismong si Senator Joel Villanueva ay nakapaglaan ng oras sa amin at binisita kami,” he said.