‘Double’ TUPAD pays traced to system glitch

By Gina Dizon

SAGADA Mountain Province -- Some beneficiaries were reportedly “double status” under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers with some recipients given TUPAD funds under alleged questionable circumstances. 
    Netizens from the Facebook group page Sagada Reports said some beneficiaries belonged to more than one member of a household in TUPAD among other complaints in cash assistance program facilitated by the Dept. of Labor and Employment.
    Netizen Rose Licanay Palque said an earlier municipal orientation conducted by DOLE stipulated a beneficiary should not be a government official or employee, not a barangay health worker, not a claimant of pantawid pamilyang Pilipino program (4PS) of the Dept. of Social Welfare and Development and with only one member from a household.
    Palque said some TUPAD beneficiaries had four members of a family, a minor, and 4PS members as she posted a list of TUPAD beneficiaries in Sagada Reports Facebook group.
    “They (DOLE) said the list shall be verified in the computer and those who are not qualified shall be deleted by DOLE. Why is it that in the final list of beneficiaries there were some names who came from more than one member of a household?” Palque asked

TUPAD is a community-based package of assistance program of DOLE that provides emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers, for a minimum period of 10 days, but not to exceed a maximum of 30 days.

One-day work is equal to minimum wage of a locality.

Work included cleaning of drainage systems, repair of public facilities, reforestation and information education activities.

The TUPAD program was implemented during the Covid pandemic by virtue of DOLE Department Order 210.

DOLE Mountain Province senior officer Marshall Pachingel attributed the doubling of financial assistance given to one beneficiary to “lack of sharing in the ‘system.”

Pachingel said “DOLE has the list of beneficiaries of TUPAD and the Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) but DOLE does not have a list of social amelioration program (SAP) beneficiaries of the DSWD.

With that, DOLE can countercheck CAMP and TUPAD beneficiaries who shall be automatically delisted in one program if a beneficiary of two SAPs, Pachingel added.

Pachingel urged LGUs to be more circumspect in identifying beneficiaries so there shall be no doubling of assistance so all can benefit from social amelioration programs of government.

Municipal Public Employment Service Office (PESO) officers who handle the TUPAD program reportedly agreed work can be passed on to barangay LGUs as part of their function.