Labor Department and RCBC to Disburse Funds for Displaced Filipino Workers

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will collaborate for an efficient and quick digital disbursement of cash assistance to displaced local and overseas workers affected by the COVID 19 pandemic.

The funds will be disbursed through InstaPay bank transfers and RCBC’s DiskarTech app to the targeted beneficiaries as identified and verified by DOLE. Another disbursement mode would be through RCBC DiskarTech’s payout partners in 72 out of 81 provinces nationwide for beneficiaries without existing bank accounts.

The cash assistance will be deposited to the individual beneficiary’s DiskarTech account or claimed through payout partners in their cities or municipalities.

For this option, beneficiaries need to present the “Beneficiary Reference Number and a valid ID. The list of payout partners will be published on DiskarTech’s website.

The beneficiaries will have the option to use the DiskarTech app as a basic savings account. The beneficiaries will have to complete RCBC’s standard account opening and electronic Know Your Client (eKYC) procedures.

This initiative is a part of the PHP 16.4 billion earmarked by government under the Republic Act No. 11494 known as the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2.

The law mandates the provision of assistance to all types of displaced workers or employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic such as those in the formal and informal sectors, including freelance workers and repatriated Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), and those whose deployment were suspended due to a government-imposed deployment ban.

The DOLE implements several programmes namely CAMP, TUPAD, and AKAP, in relation to the government’s implementation of a nationwide recovery and rehabilitation program to soften the impact of the pandemic.

Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged (TUPAD) covers informal sector workers such as drivers, vendors and the like, while the COVID Adjustment Measures Programme (CAMP) is a one-time financial support for workers in the formal sector. The Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP), is a one-time financial support for OFWs who were repatriated or still abroad but lost their jobs.

“We are honored to partner with RCBC and look forward to a friendly financial relationship. We are confident that the 16.4 billion assistance will be efficiently and expeditiously paid out to our beneficiaries as mandated by President Duterte”,

said DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello during the signing of the memorandum of agreement.

“We are delighted to support the efforts of DOLE. These are difficult and uncertain times where each one is demanded to be part of the solution. Since the start of the crisis, RCBC has been volunteering our services so that our digital solutions will be enlisted to serve society especially during these trying times”,

said Eugene S. Acevedo, RCBC President and Chief Executive Officer.

Featured image: Top left – DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello, top right Eugene S. Acevedo, RCBC President and CEO and bottom – Lito Villanueva, RCBC EVP and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer.