AN initial 14,000 disadvantaged workers nationwide will be provided temporary employment under the Tulong panghanapbuhay sa ating disadvantaged workers (Tupad) program to perform community projects that address water and food insufficiency amid climate change.
This is following the convergence between the Tupad program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and project Lawa at Binhi (Local Adaptation to Water Access and Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverished Project) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to jointly mitigate the impact of climate change to vulnerable communities.
The partnership has been formalized through the signing of the memorandum of understanding, led by DoLE Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma and DSWD Secretary Rexlon Gatchalian at the DSWD Central Office in Quezon City on May 31, 2024.
Laguesma says the department has allocated an initial P144 million for the temporary employment of target beneficiaries, including farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous people, and families vulnerable to climate and disasters.
He adds that the number of beneficiaries and amount of assistance are expected to increase later on as the convergence further expands to additional areas nationwide.
The DoLE chief says in Filipino: "This initiative of the DSWD and DoLE supports the Philippine Development Plan 2023 to 2028 as well as the Labor and Employment Plan 2023 to 2028, which aims to provide workers greater protection, especially during calamities. This also responds to the call of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to implement a whole-of-government and whole-of-nation approach in responding to the adverse effects of climate change and other events in the labor sector."
Beneficiaries will participate in community projects such as the construction or rehabilitation of water harvesting facilities; repair of multipurpose water infrastructures; diversification of water supplies; community-based vegetable gardening; diversified integrated farming; planting disaster resilient crops, fruit-bearing trees and mangroves; aquaponics and hydroponics; aquaculture; and vermicomposting.
The Cabinet Secretaries stress the importance of providing sustainable intervention to vulnerable communities, noting the country's calamity-prone status further exacerbated by climate change.