The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Thursday announced that the application for financial assistance under the Covid Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) for formal sector workers has been suspended since Wednesday.
In a statement, the department said the decision to close the online application was due to the volume of applications they received and they are close to exhausting their budget amounting to over PHP1 billion.
“The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announces with regret the suspension of acceptance of application for financial assistance under the Covid Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) for formal sector workers. Effective 5 p.m. of April 15, the online application has been closed. The labor department has been swamped with volumes of requests that the available fund for the program amounting to PHP1.6 billion is very close to being depleted,” the DOLE added.
The agency also reported that more than 230,000 formal sector workers from over 10,000 establishments were provided cash assistance amounting to PHP1.2 billion since March 23.
“Since the implementation of CAMP from March 23 to date, DOLE was able to provide the one-time PHP5,000 assistance to 236,412 workers from 10,663 establishments, with total cash disbursements of PHP1.2 billion. We have yet to pay 85,563 more workers in the coming days,” the statement said.
The DOLE also asked for the understanding of employers and workers who have yet to receive the cash aid.
“We seek the full understanding of employers and workers who were unable to receive the assistance. The requests simply ballooned beyond the capacity of DOLE’s resources. The situation was aggravated by the extension of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) up to 30 April,” it said.
“DOLE is working closely with other agencies, including Congress, for an immediate alternative program to help ease the burden on the greater number of workers who did not benefit from CAMP,” it added.
The DOLE said its regional operations had enormous challenges in attending to the 1.6 million CAMP applications nationwide, “but we are happy to extend assistance to those who had received the cash aid.”
Meanwhile, the DOLE said it is preparing post-ECQ programs for stakeholders in coordination with the plans of the government to be able to address the needs of the Filipinos.
“DOLE is now moving fast its recovery plan for workers and employers to cope up with the “new normal” after the ECQ. We are preparing a menu of programs that will complement national efforts to effectively address the needs of the people,” it added. (Ferdinand Patinio/PNA)
