The Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas (DOLE-7) has released PHP6.8 million to more than a thousand beneficiaries in Cebu, who worked under the agency’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Displaced/Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) program.

In Cebu City, 1,221 TUPAD workers were provided with their reference codes to be able to claim their salaries at any branch of the DOLE’s partner-money remittance center.

The beneficiaries worked for 10 days by disinfecting and sanitizing public areas in their respective barangays.

Identified workers come from at least 64 barangays here.

“Each beneficiary received PHP4,040. And for that, the DOLE shelled out a total of PHP4, 932,840 for their salaries,” DOLE Tri-City Field Office director Emmanuel Ferrer said in a statement on Monday.

The reference codes were released at the Fort San Pedro in Cebu City where an open space was ideal for the event, making sure that the safety and health protocols were being observed.

In the city of Naga, southern Cebu, around 338 TUPAD workers also received their reference codes.

DOLE Cebu Provincial Field Office officer=in=charge head Vivencio Lagahid said beneficiaries worked for 14 days by doing sanitation activities in their community.

“Each beneficiary was paid PHP404 per day so each of them, after completing their work, received PHP5,656 for their salary,” he said.

The DOLE spent PHP1.91 million for their salaries, and the distribution of reference codes was done at the Tennis Court in Naga City.

DOLE-7 Director Salome Siaton personally handed over the reference codes to beneficiaries during a recent caravan of government services by the provincial government here.

“Other field offices just like in Negros Oriental, Siqujior and Bohol, are also facilitating the release of the reference codes for the TUPAD beneficiaries in their respective areas. We will just have to caution our stakeholders to always observe the minimum public health standards during the releasing of the transaction codes,” Siaton said.

As TUPAD workers, she added, beneficiaries were not only provided with personal protective equipment but also were covered with a group personal accident insurance of the Government Service Insurance System for one year. (PNA)