THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said it will stop accepting applications for a financial-assistance program for formal-sector workers, after hitting its quota for the number of potential beneficiaries.

In a statement Thursday, the DoLE said it reached its target level for prospective beneficiaries for the COVID Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP).

“As of Dec. 8, a total of 1,462,350 workers from 36,355 establishments have applied for CAMP, exceeding by more than 2,000 workers the number of target beneficiaries of the program,” the DoLE said.

Under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan II), DoLE was allocated P4 billion for CAMP, a one-time financial aid program for workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III asked the Department of Tourism to expedite the CAMP applications of workers in the tourism industry. The tourism workers have a separate allocation.

“May we request that the issuance of accreditation for CAMP applicants from DoT Regional Offices be fast-tracked to improve our utilization of funds allocated to the tourism sector. Pending DoT’s accreditation process, this Department will continue to process the applications of all tourism-related sectors,” Mr. Bello said in a letter addressed to Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat Thursday.

As of Tuesday, 61,953 workers from 1,917 tourism establishments applied for the special CAMP, or only 10% of the program’s targeted beneficiaries of more than 600,000. — Gillian M. Cortez

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