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Five thousand pesos.
That is all that displaced tourism workers are going to receive in cash from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) under the Bayanihan Act 2.
The Secretary of Labor Silvestre Bello III and the Secretary of Tourism Bernadette Romulo Puyat signed the Joint Circular (JMC) No. 2020-001 on October 30, which contains specific guidelines for the provision of cash assistance and cash for work for workers of tourism displaced due to the current Covid-19 pandemic.
In a press release, Romulo Puyat said that displaced employees from 7,951 primary tourism companies (PTE) accredited with the Department of Tourism (DOT) and an estimated 8,433 PTE licensed from their respective local government units will benefit from the program. . “With the joint effort and cooperation of DOT and DOLE, we will do everything we can to get our tourism industry workforce through these stormy waters,” he said.
The guidelines also cover cash assistance or cash-for-work assistance for DOT-accredited or LGU-licensed secondary tourism businesses (STE) and distressed tour guides.
Under the JMC guidelines, a copy of which was obtained by BusinessMirror, workers who have already benefited from the Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) -Bayanihan 1, the Department of Finance’s Small Business Wage Subsidy program (DOF) or the Social Improvement Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Unemployment Benefit of the Social Security System can no longer apply for Bayanihan 2 assistance.
Also excluded from taking advantage of the Bayanihan 2 DOT-DOLE financial aid are “senior management and workers with a gross monthly salary of P40,000 and more.”
Only displaced workers from DOT-accredited PTE and STEs as of 2019 (or as of August 31, 2020 for newly accredited PTE / STE) can take advantage of Bayanihan 2 help.
The DOT has estimated that some 4.8 million tourism workers are unemployed or only partially working due to travel restrictions imposed by Covid. As of September 2020, there were 8,896 DOT-accredited PTEs, including 1,532 tourism leaders, as tour guides.
“Our tourism workers constitute the life support system of the tourism industry. We sincerely thank Secretary Bello and DOLE for prioritizing our displaced tourism workers. Likewise, we thank our legislators for the enactment of the Bayanihan 2 Act that will allow us to help our stakeholders regain economic strength, giving renewed vigor to our industry and our country. This financial assistance scheme and Cash for Work Program will demonstrate once again that our government stands firm with the people, ”said Rómulo Puyat.
One-time financial assistance equal to P5,000 and wages for the cash-for-work program will be derived from the P3 billion allocation for tourism workers under Section 4 of the Bayanihan Act 2.
If beneficiaries opt for cash work, it will be done in accordance with DOLE’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa program for the care of disadvantaged / displaced workers (Tupad) and will be based on regional wages. (https://bit.ly/3kSQI7q)
Members of duly registered community tourism organizations (CBTOs) affected by the pandemic are also qualified to make use of cash assistance and apply for the cash-for-work program.
Financial assistance for displaced tour guides will be obtained from a separate allocation of P100 million in Bayanihan 2.
A tour guide may be eligible for one-time financial assistance or enrollment in the cash-for-work program, provided they are a member of a tour guide organization or association that has been registered with a relevant LGU or national. government agency on or before December 31, 2019; must have a valid DOT accreditation or LGU license, issued no later than August 31, 2020; and must undergo relevant tour guide training by DOT after applying for financial assistance.
Tour guides and other displaced tourism workers who will not meet the eligibility requirements provided in the joint memorandum, specifically those who are not members of any registered association or organization, informal sector tourism workers, will still have the opportunity to make use of Cash per -Work program under DOLE’s Tupad and CAMP programs, as applicable, subject to their guidelines.
