TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, April 4 (PIA) -- Families whose work and
income are affected by the stringent social distancing and community quarantine
measures in fighting the spread of corona virus disease (COVID-19) can apply
for a temporary wage employment as mandated by the recently passed Bayanihan To
Heal As One Act or RA 11469.
Through the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the
government offers Emergency Subsidy Program (ESP) through its Tulong
Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Displaced at Disadvantaged Workers Barangay Ko, Bahay
Ko Disinfection and Sanitation Project (TUPAD #BKBK).
TUPAD #BKBK is DOLE’s community-based safety net program that
provides temporary wage employment to the informal economy workers, such as the
underemployed, self-employed, and severely affected by the adjusted work
schedules and the displaced marginalized workers who have lost their livelihood
or whose earnings were affected due to the community quarantine against
COVID-19.
For TUPAD #BKBK, in line with the DOLE Integrated Livelihood
Emergency Employment Program, workers shall be the tasked to disinfect and
sanitize their houses and those of the qualified beneficiaries, including
identified dwellings and its immediate vicinity, according to the Joint
Memorandum Circular governing the ESP implementation.
The work program also includes Basic Work Safety Orientation,
COVID-19 safety measures, and possible protective suits to protect workers from
job-related risks.
According to DOLE, qualified beneficiaries are required to work
for four hours a day for a maximum of ten days and will be paid wages
equivalent to 100 percen of the prevailing highest minimum wage in the region.
For Bohol TUPAD #BKBK workers, they would be receiving P404 for
four hours of work a day or P4,040 for ten days, the payment of which shall be
through money remittance service providers or direct cash pay-out.
Eligible to apply are workers in private establishments that have
been affected by the pandemic, such as retained workers who do not get regular
wages, workers whose working hours are reduced due to the implementation of
Flexible Work Arrangements and thus get lesser take home pay, or suspended
workers whose work is temporarily stopped with the suspension of operations of
their business establishment.
Also eligible for the temporary work are workers from the
underprivileged sector whose income or combined family income falls within the
poverty threshold, persons who are contracted to do work on an irregular basis,
hired on a per-piece or per completed work basis, pakyaw workers
and agri-sector workers, homeworkers like crafts men, “kasambahay”
who are currently not receiving any pay for they cannot report to work due to
the community quarantine, drivers of pedicab, tricycle, PUJs, UVs, PUBs, Taxi,
Transport Network Vehicle Service (TNVS) and Transport Network Companies (TNC)
especially if their income is dependent on the job or the below minimum earners
and the only income-earner of their family.
As the program is implemented by Direct Administration of DOLE or
by LGU Accredited Partners, LGUs are tasked to submit a letter of intent, work
program, and summary list of beneficiaries to DOLE for approval.
Disqualifications
For TUPAD #BKBK implementation, disqualified to avail of the said
program are workers who availed of the P5,000 one-time cash assistance through
the DOLE CAMP; those who are under the expanded and enhanced Pantawid Pamilyang
Pilipino Program; those who have already received cash assistance through the
DSWD Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS); or rice farmers who
have already received cash assistance from the Department of Agriculture.
Beneficiaries who received cash and non-cash assistance from the
local government unit (LGU) or national government agencies (NGA) may still
qualify to avail of the TUPAD #BKBK program provided that the combined amount
from the LGU, other NGAs, and DOLE shall not exceed the P6,000 emergency
subsidy specified the Bayanihan To Heal As One Act. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
GETTING EVEN. For
four hours of work and getting a full day's pay, workers in the sub-minimum
wage brackets who would be hired to disinfect communities are able to catch up
if only to get the temporary relief as the COVID-19 threat disrupts works
schedules in Bohol and elsewhere in the country. (PIA Bohol/ Photo by RV
Obedencio)
REALIZING
PROMISES. DPWH 3rd
Engineering District workers disinfect the highway in Valencia town. (PIABohol/
Photos by RV Obedencio)
No comments:
Post a Comment