MORE than 1 million informal sector workers have benefitted from the Department of Labor and Employment's (DoLE) livelihood assistance and emergency employment program in the first half of the year. Citing figures from the second quarter progress report of the Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns (BWSC), Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said on Wednesday that 1,062,499 informal sector workers benefited from the Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (Dileep). Under Dileep are the DoLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP) and the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Disadvantaged Workers (Tupad) Program. The DILP or the Kabuhayan Program component provides grant assistance for the startup, enhancement, or restoration of lost livelihood for disadvantaged (vulnerable, marginalized, displaced) individuals or groups in the informal sector. The Tupad Program, on the other hand, provides temporary work to disadvantaged workers for 10 up to 90 days, depending on the nature of assigned community work. Beneficiaries receive wages based on the highest prevailing minimum wage in the region. Records showed that 36,846 workers, primarily from vulnerable groups such as the underemployed, parents of child laborers, and marginalized farmers and fisher folk, received DILP assistance worth P707,187,360. Of these beneficiaries, 27,128 established new livelihood projects, while 9,065 expanded their existing ones. Additionally, 653 were assisted in restoring their livelihood through DILP. At least 10,493 workers, or 28.48 percent of the beneficiaries assisted under the livelihood program, are from the country's fourth- to sixth-income municipalities. Tupad, on the other hand, hired 1,025,653 workers under its cash-for-work program, amounting to P5,652,212,238.00 in wages from April to June 2024. The Bicol Region has the highest number of assisted workers with 141,443 beneficiaries, followed by Calabarzon with 83,665 and Central Luzon with 83,163. Aside from maintenance and roadside clearing of public facilities and infrastructures, worker-beneficiaries also engaged in community vegetable gardening under Project Lawa at Binhi, setting up and maintaining Kadiwa sites, beautifying public roads, dredging canals, tree planting, and coastal cleanup. A total of 326,191 workers, or 31 percent of the beneficiaries hired under the Tupad, are from the fourth- to sixth-income class municipalities. In 2023, DoLE enhanced the Dileep guidelines to simplify the application process, expand eligibility criteria to include more disadvantaged workers from both formal and informal sectors and broaden the scope of provided assistance. DoLE regional offices implement the Kabuhayan and Tupad components of Dileep, adhering to Commission on Audit standards and other relevant guidelines.
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