The national government has mobilized roughly ₱386.6 million to deliver emergency employment and financial support to communities hit hard by severe flooding caused by the intensified southwest monsoon, or habagat.
According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the targeted funding is projected to provide assistance to nearly 50,000 workers in flood-impacted regions across the Philippines.
The emergency release comes as disaster monitoring data from the Office of Civil Defense revealed that intense rainfall affected roughly 2.2 million families—representing over 7.7 million individuals—with more than 8,200 families still taking shelter in government displacement facilities.
Acting Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino noted that the interventions seek to buffer affected households from income loss while helping communities recover, primarily executed through the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) initiative and the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP).
“Through DILEEP, DOLE is responding on two fronts: providing immediate income support through temporary employment while helping affected workers rebuild sustainable sources of livelihood,” Tolentino said.
“These interventions demonstrate our continuing efforts to bring assistance closer to workers and communities as they recover from the effects of calamities,” he added.
Under the TUPAD scheme, enrolled individuals secure short-term paid work by participating in community projects such as post-disaster cleanup and rehabilitation efforts. The labor department manages the end-to-end process, covering orientation, registration, project execution, and direct wage distribution.
Concurrently, the DILP stream equips recipients to launch or revive small micro-enterprises. The program supplies capital and tools for ventures ranging from sari-sari stores, agriculture, and livestock production to food vending, repair services, and coastal fishing.