“If it is true that the funds for CAMP have been depleted, topping that off with additional funds would be simpler and more logical for after all, MSMEs’ employees are the priority under CAMP,” TUCP said, referring to micro, small and medium enterprises.
It pointed out that hundreds of thousands of CAMP applications have been processed.
“The Department of Finance’s (DoF) wage subsidy which involves too many agencies — the DoF, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Social Security System (SSS) — and makes it complicated for small businesses and workers to qualify, will not address the urgency of the need to provide subsidy to the workers,” the group warned.
On April 16, the Labor department announced it would no longer accept applications for CAMP because the funds allotted for the program have been depleted.
It said that 264,154 workers benefited under CAMP.
As of April 12, 2020, the number of displaced formal sector workers nationwide had reached more than a million while affected workers in the informal sector needing assistance numbered close to quarter of a million.
The TUCP said that continuing with the CAMP program was more practical because of its simplified process.
“In fact the reason the CAMP application requirements were simplified was in recognition of the prevailing informality of work arrangement in MSMEs including the absence or non-updating of Social Security System records or remittances,” it said.
TUCP Vice President Luis Corral warned that SSS funds were considered private, held in trust by the government.
The use of SSS funds, which comes from the contributions of employees and employers, is set by law and its use is further subject to Board approval,” he said. - By William Depasupil, TMT
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