Manila – Employees of the Institute for Labor Studies assisted the Department of Labor and Employment Central Office by remotely manning the DOLE Call Center operations to respond to queries regarding its ongoing assistance programs in response to the COVID-19.

ILS employees who volunteered included Advocacy and Publications Division Labor (APD) and Employment Officer II Arianne lshreen C. Bucar, Workers Welfare Research Division (WWRD) Chief Maria Isabel D. Artajo, Employee Relations Division (ERD) Senior LEO Carl Sean E. Pablico, and Labor and Social Relations Research Division Senior LEO Ivan Cassidy F. Villena. The said ILS employees responded via phone, SMS, and other online platforms to address the various queries about the Department’s COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) and Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) Program, apdly dubbed as #BaranggayKoBahayKo (#BKBK).

CAMP is a cash assistance for employees from the formal sectors or workers hired by private companies or establishments regardless of their employment status (permanent, probationary, or contractual). Employees who are displaced within ECQ can also be included in the list of beneficiaries, where each employee will receive a one-time cash assistance of Php 5,000.00.

TUPAD is a community-based safety net program that will provide temporary employment to workers from the informal sectors who are either underemployed, self-employed or displaced marginalized workers whose earnings are affected due to ECQ.

Guidelines for CAMP are covered under Department Order 209, and TUPAD #BKBK are outlined under Department Order 210, series of 2020. In a recent DOLE report, CAMP’s current total spending amounted to 3.093 billion to aid 618,722 formal sector workers from 31,972 micro, small and medium enterprises. For its #BKBK Program, the Department has already released a total of Php 1.348 Billion to aid 337,198 workers in the informal sector.