Under the Employment Assistance to Our Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Filipinos who lost their jobs during the pandemic can apply for emergency employment.
“Mga self-employed, unemployed, sidewalk vendors, mga magbabalot, mga tricycle drivers, labandera [at] masahista,” said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III about those who can apply for the program.
It is said that those who enter the program can receive up to P5,370, which they can get through the remittance center.
The DOLE has also appealed for additional funding to provide assistance to employees affected by the closed industries of today’s ECQ or your “no work, no pay.”
According to Bello, his DOLE’s funds have been fully utilized.
Bello also said that under the National Employment Recovery Strategy, he had instructed all government agencies to launch 1 million jobs this year as part of helping those who have lost their jobs.
Meanwhile, a total of P6 billion has been allocated to help overseas Filipino workers repatriated due to the pandemic.
DOLE offers emergency employment
The country’s unemployment rate in June 2021 remained the same as the 7.7 percent reported a month ago. This is lower than the unemployment rates in April (8.7%), February (8.8%), and January (8.7%) of the same year but higher than the 7.1 percent reported in March 2021.
In terms of unemployment rate magnitude, 3.76 million Filipinos 15 years old and over were unemployed in June 2021, compared to 3.73 million in May 2021.
The labor force participation rate (LFPR) in June 2021 was registered at 65.0 percent or about 48.84 million Filipinos 15 years and over who were either employed or unemployed. This is higher than the LFPR reported in May (64.6%), April (63.2%), February (63.5%), and January (60.5%) of the same year.
The employment rate in June 2021 remains unchanged at 92.3 percent from May 2021. This means that 45.08 million were employed out of 48.84 million Filipinos in the labor force in June 2021. This employment rate is higher than the rates reported in April 2021 (91.3%), February 2021 (91.2%), and January 2021 (91.3%), but lower by -0.6 percentage point from the March 2021 estimate.
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