Governor Lilia G. Pineda and Regional Director Leopoldo de Jesus of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Region III recently turned over to 1,000 beneficiaries their payment for work done under the Department’s Tulong Pangkabuhayan for Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD).
Each of the beneficiaries received P3,000 for the work they rendered for ten days, from November 17 to 26, cleaning schools, roads, municipal and barangay halls in flooded barangays, “to help them regain normalcy and make them more livable places”.
Both Pineda and de Jesus expressed continuing support for programs such as TUPAD which are designed to help people who are in difficult circumstances recover and improve their life situation.
The beneficiaries came from the six coastal towns of Pampanga and other areas affected by floods brought by typhoon Pedring. They expressed their appreciation for the efforts of the provincial government, through the Public Employment Services Office (PESO), and the DOLE regional office to assist them in earning decent wages “yung pinagtrabahuan namin at nakatulong sa kaayusan ng aming mga lugar”.
The turnover rites were held at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center last December 23 which is an implementation of TUPAD’s emergency employment assistance for families in the areas most highly affected by recent floods in Pampanga.
It will be recalled that some P3 million had earlier been released by the DOLE for the purpose of providing two-week employment for 1,000 families from the affected barangays along the Pampanga River.
Ten persons were selected from each barangay from the towns of Candaba, San Luis, San Simon, Apalit, Masantol and Macabebe which were the most devastated by the flooding.
These were consequently employed under the program which involved the cleaning up and immediate repair of roads, schools, barangay and municipal halls and the like.
Luningning Vergara, head of Pampanga PESO, said the selection was done by local government units and municipal PESOs who had conducted an individual profiling of the families in the target areas.
She added that this is very much in line with Governor Lilia G. Pineda’s desire to provide assistance to flood victims not only through relief goods distribution but also, more importantly, through the provision of employment opportunities and income generation activities.
The governor, in the meantime, continues to link up with various organizations, both government and private, to look for ways to find long-term solutions to floods in the province. (Eloisa P. Galang, Pampanga PIO)
