The shortage in the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) workforce and banking systems has been causing the delay of the P5k cash aid the government allotted for displaced workers.
“Manpower, kasi (because) we are working on a very limited workforce and then meron din po tayong problem sa (we also have a problem with) banking systems,” Dominique Rubia-Tutay, OIC-Assistant Secretary of DOLE for Employment and General Administration Cluster, said in an interview with dzMM on Monday.
Rubia-Tutay noted that some banks in other regions only has limited operations, twice or thrice a day or until noon only.
“Meron lamang tayong konting (We have a slight) delay but we are really working with all out stakeholders para mas mapabilis pa po natin (so we can speed up the process),” she said.
As of April 4, data from DOLE showed some 102,895 formal sector workers have already received the P5,000 cash assistance under the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP).
The Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Displaced/Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD)-Barangay Ko Bahay Ko (BKBK) program meanwhile gave benefits to around 80,000 workers in the informal sector.
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DOLE P5k cash aid for workers delayed
DOLE said P622 million of funds had been disbursed to beneficiaries of the said programs.
The department hopes to help more than 350,000 formal and informal sector workers by mid-April, utilizing over P1.5 in funds for both programs.
DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III earlier said employees may directly go to their office for the P5,000 cash aid if their employers refuse to seek help for them.
“We advise the worker na sabihan ‘yung mga kasamahan niyang worker na sila na lang mag-submit sa amin. Tapos ipapadala na lang namin ito [via money remittance]. Di na namin ipapadaan sa employer,” he said.
(We advise workers to come together and submit the requirement to us then we will send the money to them. We will no longer involve their employers.)
Some employers had refused to apply for P5,000 government assistance. Labor Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay suspects those employers are afraid the agency would find out violations since DOLE requires companies to submit their payroll.