MALAPATAN, Sarangani -- The provincial government of Sarangani have delivered cash-for-work assistance to more than 400 TUPAD beneficiaries or Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers of Malapatan.

The TUPAD program of the Department of Labor and Employment is a community-based package of assistance that provides emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed, and seasonal workers.

In Sarangani, TUPAD qualified beneficiaries were mostly tricycle drivers, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), vendors, and construction workers who were affected by the pandemic and other calamities.

On July 27, the last batch of TUPAD beneficiaries in Malapatan includes more than 30 families affected by the flashfloods and landslides in the sitios in barangays Daan Suyan and Lun Masla.

According to Pastor Bryan Aungon of the Integrated Barangay Defense System, TUPAD beneficiaries were Haggai for Peace pastors “under na karon sa programa ni Governor Ruel Pacquiao,” and “force multipliers sa dose ka barangay sa Malapatan.”

Pastor Macario Calibay, one of the recipients of the program, lamented how the services from the government were not able to reach them back then in their far-flung villages for the last 65 years.

He said he was grateful “kay natagaan mi ug chance na makasali niining programa sa DOLE, ug napansin mi sa gobyerno, ug nakadawat mi og parehas ani na pinansyal (assistance).”

Aungon said one of the priorities of the local government headed by Governor Pacquiao under his Ronda Probinsya program is “katong mga services na para sa Sarangan, ihatod gyud ug ipa-feel sa ilaha, mapa Muslim man ka, Lumad, o Bisaya, ang para sa imoha, dili gyud isalikway ang mga serbisyo ug mga tabang.”

According to Rachelle Marie Sanchez, labor and employment officer of DOLE, each beneficiary received P3,360 cash after working for a “minimum of 10 days, and a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work performed.”

Their nature of work includes community clean-up, tree planting, emergency response, road clearing, and construction works. (Jori Mae R. Samillano/SARANGANI PROVINCIAL INFORMATION OFFICE)