Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 2) — More than 115,000 employees of small businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis have received the first tranche of their salary subsidy, the Department of Finance announced Saturday.
“As of May 1, the SSS (Social Security System), through its partnership with the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), has released wage subsidies for a total of 115,782 employees of small businesses,” Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Lambino II said in a statement.
The Small Business Wage Subsidy program aims to provide a monthly wage subsidy of ₱5,000 to ₱8,000 each to around 3.4 million employees affected by the economic standstill, for two months.
The amount the workers get will depend on the minimum wage level in their regions.
A majority of the qualified workers have been notified through text that their subsidy is ready for pickup at MLhuillier branches, the partner-remittance center of SSS. To claim the cash, they must present the text message along with any of the valid IDs.
Nearly 10,000 of them have already received the cash aid, deposited directly to their bank or e-wallet accounts. The DOF said applications of 76,915 employers have been processed.
It said employers can still apply for their workers’ wage subsidy until May 8. The process can be completed online through the SSS website.
The Department of Labor and Employment is also providing a ₱5,000 cash assistance to displaced workers under its COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program. As of April 30, more than 500,000 workers have received the one-time financial aid.
The Labor Department said more than 2 million workers have lost their jobs due to the temporary closure of businesses and modified work arrangements to comply with the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine and similar lockdowns in other areas since March.
The entire country is now under general community quarantine, while high-risk areas like Metro Manila are under a stricter enhanced community quarantine, marked by stay-at-home orders and suspension of most work and public transport.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 8,772 on Friday, with 1,084 recoveries and 579 deaths.
