ILOILO City – Labor secretary Silvestre “Bebot” Bello III and Transportation secretary Arthur Tugade are coming over today to roll out another batch of assistance and programs to help ease the impact of the pandemic on the Ilonggos and to inaugurate the new headquarters of the Philippine Coast Guard-Western Visayas.
Mayor Jerry Treñas, Cong. Julienne “Jam-jam” Baronda and Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. are going to welcome them along with other legislators, city officials and local chief executives at the Iloilo Convention Center.
“Secretary Bello and Secretary Tugade know we need the assistance of the national government to recover from the pandemic at the soonest time possible,” Cong. Baronda told Panay News.
These are on top of the more than P200-million worth of TUPAD (Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers), CAMP (COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program) and GIP (Government Internship Program) given to Ilonggo beneficiaries from 2019 until today, added Baronda.
To be turned over today are 75 units of trisikad with tools and 38 bicycles under the Bikecination Livelihood project; checks for the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration’s (OWWA) Balik Pinas, Balik Hanapbuhay Program, Education for Development Scholarship Program, and Tabang OFW worth over P1.5 million for Iloilo City beneficiaries; and 25 e-trikes plus cashless bus payment system. To be presented, too, are current TUPAD beneficiaries and GIP interns.
“These two have been there for us even before the crisis struck and more so during the pandemic. We can’t thank them enough. In fact, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has allotted P90 million for TUPAD, P92 million for CAMP and P26 million for GIP, among other programs. The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has helped us ferry both repatriates and relief goods especially during the enhanced community quarantine, rehabilitate our port and built a new Coast Guard headquarters,” added Baronda.
For the entire Western Visayas, DOLE released more than P1.8 billion in funds from Bayanihan Act 1 and Bayanihan Act 2 for its pandemic-response programs like the CAMP, TUPAD, CAMP-AKAP, the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP) and Tabang OFW.
Bello will arrive with Undersecretary Renato Ebarle, Undersecretary Benjo Santos Benavidez, Director Venus Apas, OWWA administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration administrator Bernard Olalia, Director Karen Trayvilla, and Director Rolly Francia.
Expected to join Tugade are Undersecretary Giovanni Lopez, Undersecretary Steve Pastor, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chairman Martin Delgra III, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines director General Jim Sydiongco, Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante, and Philippine Ports Authority general manager Jay Santiago.
After the program at the Iloilo Convention Center, the guests will go to Philippine Coast Guard-WV headquarters for the inauguration of the new P50-million headquarters and will check on the port rehabilitation project.
“We are so thankful that DOLE and DOTr have been making the Ilonggos feel and experience the love of the national government. We hope more programs such as these will be made available to our people in the future,” said Baronda.
Bello is expected to go to Bacolod City for a series of turnover events on Tuesday./PN
