DOLE assists 300k workers in informal sector
THE DEPARTMENT of Labor and Employment (DOLE) was able to provide livelihood and emergency employment assistance to close to 300,000 workers in the country, the Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns (BWSC) reported yesterday.
Through its Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP), the BWSC said the assistance rendered covered the past eight months from July last year to March 2017 and has benefited the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized workers.
The DILEEP is a flagship program for workers, providing assistance either in the form of working capital or emergency employment.
Citing the BWSC report, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the government is extending the employment and livelihood assistance as a measure to enable displaced workers find temporary employment and eventually become self-reliant.
The DILEEP has two component programs, namely, Livelihood, or the Kabuhayan Program; and the Emergency Employment Program, or the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD).
Of the total beneficiaries, about 54,643 workers were provided with livelihood assistance. Extended assistance includes a Starter Kit or Negosyo sa Kariton (NegoKart), Enterprise Development Program, Workers Income Augmentation, and Youth Entrepreneurship Support.
Under the TUPAD program, 226,281 workers were recorded to have benefited from the employment scheme designed to arrest the rise of poverty through massive employment generation.
Another 17,591 workers were assisted through the TUPAD Augmentation Measures Program for the prevention of job losses and emergency employment assistance to displaced workers.
TUPAD beneficiaries were asked to perform social community works, such as de-clogging of street canals, cleaning of road side walks, planting trees and basic repair of common public facilities.
“These beneficiaries range from the self-employed who are unable to earn sufficient income; landless farmers; unpaid family workers; parents of child laborers; low-waged and seasonal workers; and displaced workers or workers to be displaced as a result of natural and man-made disasters,” Bello said.
In order to maximize workers’ benefits from the program, Bello recently issued a Department Order increasing the allowable amount that individual beneficiaries can avail under the DILEEP, raising the amount from P10,000 to P20,000.
The order also included, among others, the provision of basic sanitary tools and accessories by the DOLE and its Accredited Co-Partners (ACP) to the beneficiaries.
The DOLE regional offices implement the Kabuhayan and TUPAD components of DILEEP, either by direct administration or through an ACP.