Nine barangays in this city have received PHP5.35 million in emergency employment assistance under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

The checks were received by the village chiefs and treasurers from DOLE-Western Visayas Regional Director Sixto Rodriguez, in the presence of Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Lone District Rep. Greg Gasataya during the turn-over ceremony, coinciding with the 2024 Kalayaan Job Fair held at SM City Bacolod on Wednesday.

“The payout is the DOLE’s effort to touch the lives of the informal sector, which is considered as mostly underserved, unserved and hard to reach sector of the society,” Rodriguez said.

TUPAD is a community-based package of assistance providing emergency employment, and the recipient-barangay is considered the accredited co-partner (ACP) of the DOLE responsible for the direct delivery of services to the target beneficiaries.

In Bacolod, the ACPs are Barangay 1, which received PHP513,600, representing the wages for 107 beneficiaries, along with Barangays 2, 3, 11, 15, 17, 18, 33 and 37, which each received PHP480,000 for 100 beneficiaries in their respective barangays.

The assistance packages, totaling PHP4,353,600, were granted through the congressional funds of Gasataya, Rodriguez said.

He added Barangay 18 will receive an additional PHP1 million from the DOLE-Western Visayas discretionary fund, which can benefit an additional 281 informal workers.

Barangay 18 village chief Madeline Diaz said she is thankful for the assistance granted by the DOLE that will provide emergency employment to more qualified village residents.

Under the TUPAD, beneficiaries are provided occupation for a minimum period of 10 days to a maximum of 90 days, depending on the nature of the work to be performed, for which the DOLE pays them based on the daily minimum wage.

In Bacolod, the program implementation in the nine barangays covers the period June 13 to 26, 2024. (PNA)