TUPAD program benefits Sulu province

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Over 2,000 people will benefit from the government employment program called TUPAD after the Sulu provincial government on Monday received a check worth some P10.3 million from the Department of Labor and Employment.

Western Mindanao labor officials led by Regional Director Roy Buenafe handed over the check to Gov. Sakur Tan that will benefit at least 2,130 beneficiaries of the TUPAD or the “Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers.”

TUPAD is a community-based package of assistance 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, depending on the nature of work to be performed.

Provincial government photos show the beneficiaries of the government’s TUPAD program. 

Provincial government photos show Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan and DOLE Western Mindanao Regional Director Roy Buenafe during the January 17, 2022 turnover of a check worth some P10.3 million for the beneficiaries of the TUPAD program.

Only the following types of projects can be supported with such assistance: Social community projects, such as repair, maintenance, and/or improvement of common public facilities and infrastructure such as schools and health centers, debris clearing, de-clogging of canals, debris segregation and materials recovery, stockpiling and clearing; Economic community projects like repair, maintenance and/or rehabilitation of farm-to-market roads, bridges, post-harvest facilities, public markets and common service facilities such as production and display centers, fishports and Agro-forestry community projects, such as tree planting, seedling preparation, and reforestation.

Buenafe thanked Tan Sulu Rep. Samier Tan and Kusug Tausug Partylist Rep. Shernee Tambut for making the TUPAD program possible. 

Tan said thousands of people have received various assistance from the provincial government since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Both lawmakers also provided aid to residents in Sulu’s 19 municipalities. But Tambut’s partylist is far more reaching in the distribution of aid as Kusug Tausug is active not only in Sulu and in the Bangsamoro autonomous region, but other parts of the country as well. 

The governor lauded the TUPAD program and thanked President Rodrigo Duterte and DOLE Sec. Silvestre Bello, including DOLE Western Mindanao. “Definitely, this will help ease some hardships and uncertainties. “Ipaabot niyo ang pasasalamat ng Sulu kay President Duterte at Secretary Bello,” he said. 

TUPAD beneficiaries also received a sack of rice and packed lunch during the program. (Mindanao Examiner)