P160-M Congress fund to be given to 32-K Benguet folks

By Liza Agoot 

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Around 32,000 people whose income have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic will benefit from the P160 million Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) allocation of the province’s congressional caretaker.

 Kevin See, chief of staff of Benguet caretaker Rep. Eric Yap, on Tuesday said for 2021 the lawmaker obtained an allocation of P160 million for the TUPAD program of Benguet.
    “This is a congressional allocation. This is one of the requests of Congressman Yap as chairman of the (House of Representatives) appropriations (committee) na isama na madagdagan ang pondo ng Benguet in terms of assistance para sa mga kababayan natin (to increase the fund of Benguet for assistance to our province mates),” See said.

He said they have started the rollout of the 2021 TUPAD assistance this February for the new batch of beneficiaries.

He said Yap wants all residents who were displaced from their jobs -- farmers, vendors and even those in the informal sector -- who are financially crippled by the pandemic to benefit from the government’s assistance.

See said the program is being implemented by the Dept. of Labor and Employment.

“We want all qualified residents who did not receive assistance last year to avail of the program,” he said.

In 2020, he said the P110 million TUPAD fund of the congressman was able to reach residents from 140 barangays spread out in the 13 municipalities.

“It is not only those in the capital town La Trinidad that benefited, we divided the allocation equally per barangay,” he said.

Each beneficiary received about P3,500 to P5,000 assistance. -- PNA