The 280 beneficiaries of the emergency employment program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Antique started their 10-day cleanup work on Tuesday.

The beneficiaries from municipalities Tobias Fornier, Hamtic and San Jose de Buenavista were chosen by their local government to avail of the cash-for-work under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced (TUPAD) program.

Joel De la Cruz, 56, of Barangay San Angel, San Jose de Buenavista said in an interview Tuesday that the program allowed them to earn money to help defray their family expenses.

“My pump boat was damaged during the height of the Severe Tropical Storm Nalgae (Paeng) and until now it has not been repaired,” he said in an interview on Tuesday.

He added that he had to do whatever work was on hand so he could buy food for his family and support his two children who are still in school while his eldest is on a college scholarship.

Another beneficiary, Primrose Gordon from Barangay 1, also in San Jose de Buenavista, said that her husband is sickly so she and her eldest son collect scrap to be sold to a junk shop.

While their household is a Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiary, only three out of their seven children are covered by the program.

“Our wages from the TUPAD could really help us buy food,” she said in a separate interview.

DOLE Antique director Ma. Cecilia Acebuque, during TUPAD orientation on Monday, said that the beneficiaries will receive their wages for the first five days equivalent to PHP2,250 in advance so they have money to buy for their needs.

The remaining PHP2,250 will be claimed at the Palawan Pawnshop.

“TUPAD beneficiaries will be earning PHP450 per day,” she said. (PNA)