Senator Panfilo Lacson on Monday claimed some aspirants in the 2022 elections are using the government’s assistance program for the disadvantaged or displaced workers.
In a television interview, Lacson said TUPAD, or Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD), “is being taken advantage of by some politicians.”
“We are getting our feedback from the mayors who are sympathetic, who are supportive,” Lacson, a presidential aspirant, said in an interview on ANC.
“Sinasabi nila, nagpapaalam ang iba kasi kung hindi sila magko-contribute ng constituents nila kasama ang mga sasakyan eh hindi sila mabibigyan ng TUPAD,” he added.
(They were asking permission if they will allow some of their constituents and their vehicles to join some political activities because otherwise, they won’t receive their TUPAD allocations.)
Lacson said he advised these local officials to join so that they could benefit from the government’s assistance program, which was funded by the taxpayers’ money.
However, one of the local officials warned him that encouraging them to join the “caravan” might “send a wrong signal” and “create confusion” among his supporters.
The TUPAD program is a community-based package of assistance that will provide temporary wage employment for displaced workers, underemployed, and self-employed workers.
GMA News Online has reached out to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III for his comment but he has yet to respond as of posting time. —KBK, GMA News
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