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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Batasan Hills, Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. __ 3242

Introduced by

HON. YEDDA MARIE K. ROMUALDEZ
HON. JUDE A. ACIDRE
and
HON. BAI DIMPLE MASTURA

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR A WAGE EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR
DISPLACED AND/OR VULNERABLE WORKERS INSTITUTIONALIZING
FOR THE PURPOSE THE TULONG PANGHANAPBUHAY SA ATING
DISADVANTAGED/DISPLACED WORKERS (TUPAD) PROGRAM OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT, APPROPRIATING FUNDS
THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

In a calendar year, the Philippines encounter numerous types of natural
disaster caused by various elements. The past years also taught us to add
infectious diseases and climate change to the list of things that Filipinos need
to hurdle in their day-to-day life. These incidents do not only wreak havoc to our
immediate environment causing floods, fire, or earthquakes but also greatly
affects our way of life. It creates additional pressure to the living conditions of
the ordinary Filipino who do not always have the capacity to absorb the
economic shocks caused by these incidents.

This bill seeks to institutionalize the current Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa
Ating Disadvantaged / Displaced Workers Program (TUPAD) to provide support
for Filipinos who are still transitioning from economic shocks caused by
disasters or economic crises by providing them wage employment. This shall



cover all displaced and/or vulnerable workers affected by disasters,
epidemics/outbreaks, pandemics, public health emergencies, war, armed
conflict, crises, economic shocks, or income loss brought about by ill-health,

disability, and other analogous causes

Through this bill, it is hoped that the State will be able to fulfill its
constitutional mandate to promote a just and dynamic social order that will
ensure the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from
poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, promote full
employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality of life for all.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

Rep. YEDDA MARIE K. ROMUALDEZ
Representative, “Tingog Sinirangan

Rep. JUDE/A. ACIDRE
Representative, Tingog Sinirangan

KE

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Rep. BAI obs MASTURA
Representative, First District of Maguindanao


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No, __3242 _

ee

Introduced by

HON. YEDDA MARIE K. ROMUALDEZ
HON. JUDE A. ACIDRE
and
HON. BAI DIMPLE MASTURA

AN ACT

PROVIDING FOR A WAGE EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR
DISPLACED AND/OR VULNERABLE WORKERS INSTITUTIONALIZING
FOR THE PURPOSE THE TULONG PANGHANAPBUHAY SA ATING
DISADVANTAGED/DISPLACED WORKERS (TUPAD) PROGRAM OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT, APPROPRIATING FUNDS
THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of the Representatives of the

Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “TUPAD Act’.

Section 2. Declaration of Policies. - The State shall promote a just
and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity and independence of
the nation and free the people from poverty through policies that provide
adequate social services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living,
and an improved quality of life for all.

It shall improve the quality of life of all Filipino workers through active
labor market policies, promoting and facilitating employment generation,
human resource development, and by providing displaced and/or
disadvantaged workers a social safety net from the effects of disasters,

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epidemics/outbreaks, pandemics, public health emergencies, war, armed
conflict, crises, economic shocks or income loss brought about by ill-health,
disability, work-related injury, unemployment, work displacements, and other
related contingencies.

Section 3. Coverage. - This Act shall cover all displaced and/or
vulnerable workers affected by disasters, epidemics/outbreaks, pandemics,
public health emergencies, war, armed conflict, crises, economic shocks, or
income loss brought about by ill-health, disability, work-related accidents or
injuries, unemployment, work displacements due to business closure,
retrenchment, rightsizing, redundancy technological advances, and other
analogous causes.

Section 4. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act:

(a) “Accredited Co-Partner’ refers to the program partner, which may be
a peoples’ or workers organization, union, association, federation,
cooperative, business association, church-based organization,
educational institution, or private foundation, that has been
accredited by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to
implement TUPAD programs and projects using government or
public funds;

(b) “Beneficiary” refers to individuals or group of individuals who are
qualified recipients of assistance under TUPAD;

(0) “Disaster’ refers to a serious disruption of the functioning of a
community or a society involving widespread human, material,
economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the
ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own
resources, as defined in Republic Act No. 10121 otherwise known as
the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010;

(d) “DOLE or Department” refers to the Department of Labor and
Employment;


(e) “Displaced workers” refer to workers in the formal and informal
economy or self-employed, whether overseas or local, who became
unemployed, underemployed, or have lost their livelihood due to
disasters,  epidemics/outbreaks, pandemics, public health
emergencies, war, armed conflict, crises, economic shocks, or
income loss brought about by ill-health, disability, work-related
accidents or injuries, business closure, retrenchment, rightsizing,
redundancy, technological advances, and other analogous adverse
events as may be determined by the DOLE;

(f) “Massive displacement’ refers to large-scale displacement of
workers in the formal and informal sectors brought about by
disasters,  epidemics/outbreaks, _ pandemics, public health
emergencies, war, armed conflict crises, or economic shocks, among
others, resulting in serious disruption of means of livelihood;

(g) “Micro-insurance’ refers to a scheme that provides specific insurance
and similar products and services that meet the needs of the low-
income sector for risk protection and relief against distress,
misfortune, and other contingent events;

(h) “Self-employed” refers to individuals who create their own earnings
and opportunities in the form of business, contract work, whether
overseas or local, or freelance activities;

(

“Sub-professionals” refer to individuals who hold first level positions
under the Revised Administrative Code of 1987, which includes the
clerical, trades, crafts, and custodial service positions requiring less
than four (4) years of collegiate studies;

(j) “TESDA’ refers to the Technical Education and Skills Development

Authority;

(k) “TUPAD Program’ is a safety net wage employment assistance
program for displaced and/or vulnerable workers also known as the
Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged / Displaced
Workers Program, and herein interchangeably referred to as TUPAD
or Program;


()) “Underemployed workers” refer to employed persons who express
the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or an
additional job, or have a new job with longer working hours;

(m)*Vuinerable workers’ refer to minimum wage earners, working poor,
or marginalized workers, as defined below, whether in an employer-
employee relationship in the public or private sector, or self-
employed including the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), and
whose families depend solely on their wages or compensation
income for their minimum basic needs, such as food, health,
education, housing, and other essential amenities of life;

(i) Minimum wage earners refer to workers in the private sector
who are paid the statutory minimum wage, or to employees in
the public sector with compensation income of not more than
the statutory minimum wage in the non-agricultural sector
where he/she is assigned as defined under Republic Act No.
10963 otherwise known as the TRAIN law;

(ii) Working poor refers to individuals and/or groups whose
income fall below the poverty threshold as defined by the
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)
and/or cannot afford in a sustained manner to provide their
minimum basic needs of food, health, education, housing, and
other essential amenities of life;

(ii) | Marginalized workers refer to workers who have not
benefitted from education, health, employment, and other
opportunities by reasons of poverty, geographical
inaccessibility, culture, gender, among others, and to workers
who are less likely to have formal work arrangements, and are
more likely to lack decent working conditions, adequate social
security, and whose employment is characterized by
inadequate earnings, low productivity, and difficult conditions
of work that undermine their fundamental rights;


(n) “Wage employment refers to the act of generating one’s income
from an employer-employee relationship.

Article tt

Wage Employment Assistance Program
for Displaced and/or Vulnerable Workers or TUPAD Program

Section 5. Wage Employment Assistance Program for Displaced
and/or Vulnerable Workers or TUPAD Program. — The TUPAD Program is a
social safety net designed to assist displaced and/or vulnerable workers and
their families, and get them back on their feet by providing them wage
employment if they fall on hard times due to disasters, epidemics, war, armed
conflict, crises, economic shocks or income loss brought about by ill-health,
disability, work-related accidents or _ injuries, unemployment, work
displacements due to business closure, retrenchment, rightsizing, redundancy,
technological advances, and other analogous causes. For this purpose, the
TUPAD Program being implemented by the DOLE providing emergency
employment for displaced or disadvantaged workers is hereby institutionalized.

Section 6. Lead Agency and Convergence with Related
Government Assistance Program. - The Department shall be the lead
agency in the implementation of the TUPAD Program and shall proactively
administer directly, motu proprio, wage employment projects, in coordination or
collaboration with relevant government agencies, in the event of massive
displacement of workers resulting in serious disruption of means of livelihood.

The Department shall be responsible in the administration, sourcing,
assessment, and approval of all project proposals for appropriate funding using
TUPAD funds. It shall integrate and collaborate with other government
agencies, business and labor groups, and civil society groups in implementing

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similar or related programs and services for efficient and effective whole-of-

nation approach in the delivery of social safety nets.

Section 7. Eligible Projects for TUPAD; No Counterpart Funding

Requirement. - All employment projects, to be eligible for funding under
TUPAD, shall be under any of the listed eligible projects below. The Department
shall set the period of work of approved employment project depending on the
nature and duration of the work to be performed, but in no case shall the project

duration be less than ten (10) days, nor to exceed ninety (90) days, as provided

herein:

Maximum No. of
Working Days

(a) Light works, such as street sweeping and
cleaning of public facilities.

15

(b) Social community projects such as de-clogging
of canals, debris clearing/segregation and materials
recovery, stockpiling and clearing at the aftermath
of calamity or disaster.

45

(c) Social community projects such as minor repair
and maintenance of common public facilities such
as schools and health centers.

(d) Government projects requiring improvement of
government facilities and infrastructures such as
health centers, irrigation canals, roads, evacuation
centers, school buildings, and the like

(e) Economic community projects such as
maintenance and/or rehabilitation of farm-to-market
roads, bridges, post-harvest facilities, public
markets, and common public facilities such as
production and display centers, fish ports, etc.

(f) Agro-Forestry and eco-agriculture farming which
include tree-planting, seedling preparation, re-
forestation and crop growing.

(g) Field works, such as conduct of survey and
profiling, in partnership with other government
offices.

No counterpart funding shall be required in the implementation of the
project from the Local Government Units (LGUs) or any of DOLE’S accredited

8


program partners. However, they shall provide technical assistance, which
could be in the form of identification of projects, profiling of beneficiaries,
procurement, monitoring, and facilitating access of services from other

agencies.

TUPAD projects involving 46-90-day period of work shall be
implemented in partnership and/or complementation with agencies
implementing public projects, such as the Department of Public Works and
Highways (DPWH), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR), Local Government Units (LGUs), as well as private sector entities to
engage in public projects. Said offices/program partners shall provide the
required materials, tools, and equipment including office equipment, as
warranted by the nature of work.

Section 8. Qualified Beneficiaries. - A\l displaced workers and/or
vulnerable workers are qualified beneficiaries under this Act; Provided, that the
Secretary of Labor, may, in proper instances, also approve programs under the
TUPAD Program that will include the underemployed, including sub-
professionals involved in structured work in support of office operations or those
engaged in arts, crafts, manual, and clerical work, as beneficiaries under this
Act.

The Secretary of DOLE shall set standards on the TUPAD beneficiaries,
including the allowable number of beneficiaries per household, the number of
projects under the Program a qualified beneficiary may participate in, and such
other relevant matters for the effective implementation of this Act, with a view
to helping the most number of beneficiaries.

Section 9. Modes of Implementation of the TUPAD Program. - The
TUPAD Program shall be implemented by the DOLE Regional Offices through
any of the following modes:


(a) Accredited Co-Partner (ACP). Under this mode, the ACP shall be
the Department's partner or conduit in the implementation of the

program; Provided, that they are registered with any registering body
of the government and accredited by DOLE as ACP under the
TUPAD Program. The following shall qualify as ACP:

()
ii)

(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
(vii)

People’s Organization;

Private sector unions, federations, or workers’
associations, as defined in Book V of the Omnibus Rules
and Regulations Implementing the Labor Code of the
Philippines;

Cooperatives;

Church-based organizations;

Private educational institutions;

Private foundations; and

Government agencies and instrumentalities, including
National Government Agencies, Local Government Units,
and Government Owned and Controlled Corporations.

(b) Direct Administration. Under this, the administration and
implementation of the TUPAD Program shall be undertaken directly
by the Department's regional provincial and/or field offices.

Section 10. Accreditation of Co-Partners (ACP). — The DOLE shall
accredit the co-partners in the implementation of the TUPAD Program, and for

this purpose, shall set the guidelines for the accreditation process.

Government agencies, including local government units (LGUs) and
state university and colleges (SUCs), shall automatically be TUPAD program
partners, without need of accreditation, upon execution of a TUPAD
Partnership Memorandum of Agreement, clearly outlining the responsibilities

and deliverables of each party under the program.


Section 11. Employment Project Implementation Requirements. —
Al programs under the TUPAD Program shall observe the following:

(a) Strict compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Standards
provided under Republic Act No. 41058 and other related laws and
regulations;

(b) Provision of necessary equipment for beneficiaries needed to
participate in a project effectively and safely under the Program;

(c) Enrollment of every beneficiary to a group micro-insurance to be
included in the total project cost;

(d) Issuance of an identification card or document for every beneficiary
participating in a project under the Program;

(e) Assistance to beneficiaries who have participated in the Program of
skills training or upgrading towards self-employment or wage
employment. For this purpose, the Department and TESDA shall
ensure the implementation and enforcement of this provision;

(f) Mechanisms to ensure that the Department and/or its accredited co-
partners monitor the implementation of every employment project
under the TUPAD Program; and

(g) Submission of proper documentary requirements for the release and
liquidation of funds for every employment project under the TUPAD
Program subject to relevant accounting and auditing rules and
regulations.

Section 12. Wages and Compensation of Beneficiaries; Prohibited
Practices.— The wages and compensation of the beneficiaries shall not be less
than 100% of the prevailing private sector minimum wage rate set by the
Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) for non-agricultural
workers in the area or locality where the project will be implemented.

To ensure compliance with this provision, the Department shall establish
mechanisms for its strict implementation, providing safeguards and a listing of

W


prohibited activities such as cuts for commission, job sharing, ghost
beneficiaries, and padding of beneficiaries, among others.

Any violation of this provision shall result in the blacklisting of the
accredited co- partner, including the payment of the amount involved, with legal
interest, without prejudice to the filing of criminal cases. If the accredited co-
partner is an LGU or SUC, the LGU or SUC shall immediately address such
deficiency and/or error, without prejudice to applicable rules and regulations of
the Commission on Audit, and the filing of civil, criminal or administration
actions. In case of direct administration, the responsible DOLE personnel shall
be subjected to administrative investigation, without prejudice to the filing of

appropriate civil or criminal case.

Section 13. Project Funding. - Approved employment project
proposals shall be funded under the TUPAD Program fund under the budget of
the DOLE.

The Department shall be primarily responsible for managing the funds
for the implementation of the Program.

Section 14. Authority to Receive and Administer Donations for
TUPAD Program. - The Department is hereby authorized under this Act to
receive donations from government and non-government organizations and to
administer the same strictly and exclusively for the beneficiaries and qualified
applicants of the TUPAD Program, subject to relevant accounting and auditing
rules and regulations.

Section 15. Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation of the TUPAD
Program. - The Department shall establish a standardized monitoring and
reporting system to properly document every approved project under the
Program.

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It shall also submit to Congress and make available to the public, an
annual accomplishment report and utilization of the funds earmarked for the
implementation of the TUPAD Program. The annual report shall include the
pertinent details of every project under the Program, the mode of
implementation, number of beneficiaries, donations from private and other
organizations, expenditures, number of beneficiaries who acquired
employment after their participation in the Program, and other pertinent
information as may be necessary. An impact evaluation shall be conducted
from time to time, but not later than every three years.

Article Ill
Miscellaneous Provisions

Section 16. Appropriations. - The funds for the initial implementation
of this Act shall be sourced from the current budget of the Department for the
implementation of the TUPAD Program. Thereafter, the amount necessary for
its continued implementation shall be included in the annual General
Appropriations Act; Provided, that such appropriation shall take into
consideration an administration fee of not more than 5%.

Section 17. Implementing Rules and Regulations— Within ninety (90)
days from the effectivity of this Act, the DOLE shall, in consultation with TESDA,
Department of Trade and Industry, and other relevant government agencies
and stakeholders, issue the necessary rules and regulations for the effective
implementation of this Act.

Section 18. Separability Clause. - Any portion or provision of this Act
that is declared unconstitutional or invalid shall not have the effect of nullifying
other portions or provisions hereof as long as such remaining portions can still
subsist and be given effect in their entirety.


Section 19. Repealing Clause. - All laws, ordinances, rules,
regulations, other issuances, or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with this
Act, are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. Nothing in this Act shall result
in the diminution of the benefits and/or assistance given to overseas Filipinos
and migrant workers as provided in other laws, ordinances, rules, regulations,
and issuances.

Section 20. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after
its complete publication in at least (2) newspapers of general circulation or in

the Official Gazette.

Approved,

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