DOLE Eyes 4P’s Program to Provide Funds for TUPAD
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and its “Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Disadvantaged/ Displaced” workers program (TUPAD) suggested sourcing their funds from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4P’s) to sustain the program. This comes after hearing the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) spending plan which includes the reduction of DOLE’s budget along with other agencies. DBM reduced DOLE’s proposed budget of Php 20 billion to Php 14.22 billion.
During a DOLE budget hearing, Secretary Bello said the department requires an additional Php 2 billion to fund the TUPAD program and told Senators that the House is currently discussing the 4P’s reduced allocations which can possibly fund DOLE’s TUPAD.
“There is a proposal in the House (to) lessen the budget for the 4P’s of the DSWD and transfer that to TUPAD,” he mentioned.
Benefits of DOLE TUPAD and DSWD 4PS Program
According to the official 4P’s website, the program “invests in the health and education of poor households, particularly of children aged 0-18 years old.” It provides cash grants to registered beneficiaries which are similar to the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program utilized by other countries. During the first quarter, the 4P’s benefitted 4.8 million households.
On the other hand, the TUPAD program is a “community-based package” which can provide emergency employment for displaced, underemployed, and seasonal workers for a minimum of 10 days, but not exceeding a maximum of 30 days which depends on the nature of work a beneficiary will perform.
Budget Cuts Could Affect Other DOLE Programs
In a related development, Bello states the labor and employment agency’s Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) suffered the biggest reduction amounting to 20%. From this year’s Php 10.6 billion, it will slump down to Php 8.5 billion for 2020. The TUPAD program’s Php 5.05 billion budget will decrease to Php 3.88 billion in 2020. Other than that, there are other initiatives under the labor and employment agency that will suffer from the budget cuts.
DOLE’s government internship program will suffer from a Php 10.4 billion deduction which reduces its 2019 budget of Php 1.51 billion to Php 474 million in 2020. On-site welfare services for OFWs are caught in the budget cuts, reducing their Php 1.27 billion budget to Php 108 million. The child labor and prevention program received the biggest decrease of 667% from this year’s Php 115 million to Php 15 million for 2020.
Other programs affected by the MOOE’s budget cut include the Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES), Government Internship Program (GIP), child labor and elimination program.