A total of 83,898 Dabawenyos have availed of the government’s expanded employment opportunities for workers who were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a report presented by the Recovery Cluster of the Davao City Covid-19 Task Force during Task Force Meeting last Monday, as of February 4, 2020, a total of 7,632 are beneficiaries of Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) Regular; 6,274 are beneficiaries of TUPAD #BarangayKoBahayKo (BKBK) Disinfecting/ Sanitation Project; 4,731 are beneficiaries of TUPAD BKBK under Vice Mayor’s Office; 180 are beneficiaries of Government Internship Program (GIP); 72 are beneficiaries of TUPAD-GIP; 21,337 are beneficiaries of TUPAD Trabaho Dabawenyo; and, 43,672 are beneficiaries of Work for Davao.

These programs were implemented jointly by the Public Employment Services Office (PESO), City Mayor’s Office (CMO), City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), Department of Labor and Employment, and the Office of Commissioner Norman Baloro.

Davao- LGU Special Projects, the implementing office of these various programs, is currently under the City Mayor’s Office.

Baloro, who is also the head of LGU Davao Special Projects, said in a radio program over the Davao City Disaster Radio on Tuesday that the programs for workers affected by Covid-19 pandemic have been fully implemented and its budget already utilized.

“The budget na nahatag sa atoa, nga na-download sa Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Budget and Management, na-utilize na nato apan atong gi-klaro nga dili tanan na atoang beneficiary nakadawat for many reasons (The budget allocated to us and downloaded through Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Budget and Management are fully utilized but we would just want to clarify that not all of our beneficiaries were able to receive due to various reasons),” Baloro said.

The Team Leader of LGU-Davao Special Projects, Vivian Teves, in the same radio program said that the Special Projects team did not stop catering to Dabawenyos especially those who missed the scheduled payout and are still catering to beneficiaries who go to their office at Door 7 Magsaysay Park.

“Atong mga staff diri sa LGU Davao special project ginapaningkamutan nato nga macontact to nga mga person para ma-reprocess nato ang ilang kwarta nga ilang makuha. Ato silang gina-accomodate para makuha lang nila ang ilang mga sweldo (Our staff at the LGU Davao Special Project are doing our best to contact persons to re-process their money. We accomodate them so that they can get their pay),” Teves said.

Those who have concerns about the payout may inquire and be posted for the latest announcement through the Work for Davao Facebook Page. CIO