A government program designed to provide short-term work to struggling Filipinos is taking on a potentially bigger role in Nueva Vizcaya, where several beneficiaries are choosing not to spend all of their wages immediately—but to put part of the money back into businesses they hope can keep earning long after their TUPAD jobs end.
A total of 308 farmers, ambulant vendors, and parents or guardians of child laborers received around ₱2.3 million in wages after completing 15 days of work under the Department of Labor and Employment’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers, or TUPAD, according to the Philippine Information Agency.
But behind those numbers are individual decisions that show what DOLE increasingly wants the emergency-employment program to become: not simply a temporary paycheck, but potentially a bridge toward a more stable source of income.
₱7,500 Paycheck Becomes New Business Capital
Among the beneficiaries was Maryfel Labatiao of Barangay Sawmill in Villaverde, who spent 15 days working in a community vegetable garden.
She received ₱7,500 for the work and told PIA she planned to use the money to add capital to her online-selling operation and her vegetable buy-and-sell activities.
Instead of treating the entire payment as money for immediate household consumption, Labatiao saw at least part of it as a way to keep an existing source of income moving.
Another beneficiary, Romalyn Suyo, worked in areas covered by the government’s Halina’t Magtanim ng Prutas at Gulay sa Barangay (HAPAG) initiative and similarly said her TUPAD earnings would become additional capital for the family’s business.
In Bayombong, Marynell Liwan said she intended to use part of her wages for her small business selling soap and kitchen supplies, while reserving money for her children’s education and other household expenses.
Their stories illustrate an important distinction: TUPAD itself remains an emergency-employment program. What is changing is the government’s effort to help beneficiaries move from temporary income assistance toward skills, businesses or more sustainable work.
What Did the 308 Workers Do?
The workers came from Bambang, Bayombong, Aritao, Quezon, Diadi and Villaverde in Nueva Vizcaya.
Their assignments included maintaining community vegetable gardens, cleaning irrigation canals, improving public facilities, supporting waste-management activities, participating in HAPAG projects and establishing a mushroom-production facility. Payouts were conducted from August 4 to 6, 2026, according to PIA.
These projects provide a double benefit: workers receive temporary income while communities gain improvements to agricultural facilities, public spaces and local food-production projects.
DOLE Is Trying to Change What Happens After TUPAD Ends
The Nueva Vizcaya experience comes as DOLE is reshaping the broader direction of TUPAD.
In March 2026, the department announced updated rules for its livelihood and emergency-employment programs. Under the revised guidelines, beneficiaries are to be linked with skills training and employment opportunities to improve their chances of moving toward sustainable income after government assistance ends.
Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino has also publicly pushed for TUPAD to go beyond conventional short-term community work. In June, he cited an example in which workers trained as baristas could eventually receive appropriate livelihood capital and build a coffee business rather than remain dependent on repeated temporary-work opportunities.
The scale of the program makes that shift significant.
According to DOLE figures reported by the Philippine News Agency, 734,364 workers received temporary employment through TUPAD during the first half of 2026, involving roughly ₱5.55 billion in disbursements.
Separately, 33,072 beneficiaries received ₱707.08 million in livelihood grants through the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program during the same period. Combined, more than 767,000 disadvantaged and informal workers received emergency employment or livelihood support worth approximately ₱6.25 billion in the first six months of the year.
TUPAD has also been deployed for specific community and sectoral needs. In Northern Samar, for example, 200 workers participated in a 31-day abaca rehabilitation project backed by approximately ₱2.9 million in TUPAD wages.
In Metro Manila, an expanded partnership between DOLE and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is providing work to 10,000 TUPAD beneficiaries for the cleaning of esteros, drainage systems and waterways in flood-prone areas.
Still an Emergency Program—Not Yet a Guarantee of Permanent Livelihood
There is an important limit to the Nueva Vizcaya success stories.
The beneficiaries’ statements show how they intend to invest their wages, but they do not yet prove that their small businesses will become profitable or sustainable over the long term.
TUPAD was created primarily as a safety-net program providing community-based emergency employment to displaced, underemployed and seasonal workers.
And like other large government assistance programs, TUPAD has faced accountability concerns in the past. A Commission on Audit review of earlier implementation cited deficiencies involving documentation, beneficiary validation, monitoring and unliquidated fund transfers, prompting DOLE to review implementation procedures.
That makes monitoring increasingly important as the program expands from emergency employment toward longer-term economic opportunities.
For workers like Labatiao, however, the immediate calculation is much simpler.
Fifteen days of temporary work produced ₱7,500. Instead of ending when the paycheck arrived, she hopes that money can become inventory, vegetables to resell and eventually another round of income.
TUPAD may still be temporary by design.
But for some beneficiaries, the bigger story is what happens after those 15 days are over.
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