‘Perhaps unknown to Bello, TUPAD is also allegedly being used for politicking by top officials in Quezon province…’
LABOR Secretary Silvestre “Bebot” Bello III is alarmed that his department’s premiere subsidy program for marginal workers who had been displaced or lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic is being used by local officials to campaign for votes.
Bello has urged beneficiaries of the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program to be vigilant against officials and their employees using government aid programs for personal gain or for politicking.
TUPAD is the cash-for-work program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to help pandemic-hit workers.
Reports reaching the office of the labor secretary identified certain irregularities in the implementation of TUPAD in Quezon City. This prompted Bello to recall his field officer in the city, even as he requested the assistance of the police and the National Bureau of Investigation to dig deeper into the case.
“TUPAD should not be used in politics because the program is really for our countrymen who need help amid the crisis,” Bello said.
The labor secretary recently went to Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City, Bukidnon, Koronadal City, Kidapawan City and Digos City to deliver TUPAD and other key aid programs of DOLE.
Perhaps unknown to Bello, TUPAD is also allegedly being used for politicking by top officials in Quezon province, according to a radio commentary by newsman Gemi Formaran. A correspondent of a nationally circulated tabloid, Formaran said government subsidy programs not only of DOLE but also of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Agrarian Reform, and Department of Agriculture are being claimed by politicians as their own.
Formaran is on the right track in urging Secretary Bello to also look into the “pagpapatupad ng TUPAD” (implementation of TUPAD) in Quezon province, not just in Quezon City. And while we are at it, why not make a nationwide assessment of how TUPAD was conducted in the whole Philippines?
