DOLE Suspends Application for CAMP Financial Assistance

The Department of Labor and Employment has suspended accepting applications for financial assistance for formal sector workers through the COVID Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP). The suspension is effective at 5 PM on April 15, 2020.

What is the CAMP?

CAMP or the COVID Adjustment Measures Program is one-time cash assistance of P5,000 for formal sector workers. The Government has a budget of P1.6B for this particular program to assist those whose jobs and source of income was affected by the Enhanced Community Quarantine brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more about CAMP here.

The Reason for Suspension

According to the official statement of the Department of Labor and Employment through their website, the reason for suspending accepting applications for CAMP is due to the fact that the P1.6B Budget allotted for the program is “close to being depleted”.

So far, the DOLE was able to provide the one-time P5,000 cash assistance to about 236,412 workers coming from 10,663 establishments from March 23, to the present. With this, the Department of Labor and Employment has disbursed a total of P1.2B of the P1.6B budget. In the coming days, the DOLE will be paying 85,563 more workers.

In their statement, the DOLE is asking for the understanding of employers and workers who were not able to receive cash assistance. As of the moment, the DOLE is currently working with agencies including Congress for an immediate alternative program to help especially those who did not benefit from the COVID Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP). In addition, the DOLE has stated that they are now moving fast on its recovery plan for employers and workers to cope with the “new normal” after the ECQ.

 

Source: DOLE Website