To lessen the impact of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic on those working in the transport sector, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Bicol and the city government here have joined efforts to identify at least 250 tricycle drivers to become beneficiaries of the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program funded by the national government.

In an interview during an orientation on Wednesday at the Legazpi City Convention Center, Jenalyn L. Malagueno, TUPAD program coordinator for DOLE-Albay, said the driver-beneficiaries will conduct a clean-up drive and beautification in their villages for at least four hours a day for 10 days and receive compensation for their work.

TUPAD is a DOLE-spearheaded program through a community-based package of assistance that provides emergency employment to displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers for a minimum period of 10 days, but not to exceed a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work to be performed.

Malagueno said the tricycle drivers will be provided with personal protective equipment as well as long-sleeved shirts.

The government will pay them PHP310 per day or PHP3,100 for their 10 days of community works, she noted.

Malagueno said the concerned barangay chairpersons will issue certifications to the TUPAD driver-recipients as proof that they had finished their contract of work.

Diosdado Rañeses, Legazpi City Public Employment Services Office (PESO) manager, in a separate interview, said the drivers were chosen as beneficiaries of the TUPAD program after consultation with the office of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) Committee on Transportation and Public Utility, DOLE, and the presidents of the tricycle “Paradas” or parking area groups.

He said PESO also helped in evaluating and validating all the requirements of the program while waiting for the notice to proceed from the DOLE anytime this week.

“The fund of the program is now at the DOLE office and it will be downloaded to the City Treasurer’s Office for disbursements to the beneficiaries,” Rañeses said.

Councilor Al Barizo, chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities, on the other hand, said the beneficiaries have been recommended by the chairmen of the tricycle Paradas.

He said they would benefit from the additional source of livelihood as their take-home income has been reduced due to the limited number of allowed passengers per trip.

Barizo noted that another 145 drivers are being screened to become beneficiaries of the TUPAD program.

He also said that his office handed relief items and cash assistance to the tricycle drivers in the past weeks as part of the city government’s support to the transport sector, being one of those severely affected by the pandemic. (PNA)