LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Benguet Caretaker Congressman and Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list Rep. Eric Yap that more qualified residents from the province’s thirteen municipalities will be receiving their financial assistance from the various programs of the government during the scheduled mass pay out on December 13-17, 2021.
Yap, who chairs the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, reported that the mass payout of the labor department’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program and the social welfare department’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) will be done simultaneously.
He said the upcoming mass payout in the 13 municipalities will be much bigger compared to the past activities because there are more recipients t identified by the concerned government agencies and the local governments in line with his earlier plan to have at least one member of each household in the province to get assistance from any of the programs of the government.
The lawmaker underscored that by next year, there will be a monthly schedule for the distribution of the financial assistance to the qualified beneficiaries screened by the concerned government agencies and the local governments as there is an expected increase in the funds from the various programs geared towards providing emergency aid to the people whose sources of livelihood had been impacted by the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Under the guidelines for the grant of benefits from the labor department’s TUPAD, the recipients will be required to render work in their backyard and barangays for approximately 15 days to qualify to receive the P5,250 compensation, while under the rules for the AICS, the beneficiaries will be receiving a fixed P5,000 assistance.
According to Congressman Yap, the mass payout in the different municipalities was an offshoot of the close coordination between the concerned government agencies and the local governments to ensure that the identified beneficiaries will be able to get their financial assistance on time.
Last year, the budgets for the various programs of concerned government agencies had been limited these were increased this year and next year to ensure that the government will be adequately address the emergency needs of the people while trying to recover from the serious negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic to their economic activities and sources of livelihood.
For the past several months, yap, together with labor, social welfare and local officials, had been going around the 13 municipalities to distribute the financial assistance due to the identified recipients following the release of the earmarked funds for the various assistance programs of the government to cater to the emergency needs of the people. By HENT
