MANILA, Philippines — The processing of P5,000 cash aid for workers adversely affected by the coronavirus disease pandemic has been bogged down by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)’s shortage in manpower and banking systems in some regions.

“Manpower, kasi (because) we are working on a very limited workforce and then meron din po tayong problem sa (we also have a problem with) banking systems,” Dominique Rubia-Tutay, OIC-Assistant Secretary of DOLE for Employment and General Administration Cluster, said in an interview with dzMM on Monday when asked about the problems the department encounters in handing out the cash assistance.

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The DOLE official noted that some banks in other regions only operate twice or thrice a day or until 12 noon.

“Meron lamang tayong konting (We have a slight) delay but we are really working with all our stakeholders para mas mapabilis pa po natin (so we can speed up the process),” she said.

Data from DOLE as of April 4 show that some 102,895 formal sector workers have already received the P5,000 cash assistance under the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP).

Close to 80,000 workers in the informal sector, meanwhile, have benefitted from the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Displaced/Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD)-Barangay Ko Bahay Ko (BKBK) program.

About P622 million of funds has been disbursed to beneficiaries of the said programs, according to DOLE.

The department added it hopes to aid more than 350,000 formal and informal sector workers by mid-April, utilizing over P1.5 in funds for both programs.

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