By Jerome Carlo Paunan
MANILA (PIA) — At least 200,000 temporary workers nationwide will be mobilized beginning June 1 to help clean and repair public school facilities, the country’s newly appointed labor secretary said Sunday, part of the Marcos Jr. administration’s broader strategy to support education, generate employment for vulnerable workers and ensure a quality learning environment for Filipino students as the new school year begins.
Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Francis Tolentino announced that beneficiaries of the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers program, or TUPAD, will be deployed to schools in their respective areas to clean classrooms, carry out minor repairs and ensure that learning facilities are ready for the opening of classes for School Year 2026-2027, under the Department of Education’s Brigada Eskwela program.
“Starting June 1, a widespread TUPAD program will be launched in coordination with the Department of Education through Brigada Eskwela, aiming to provide more than 200,000 jobs nationwide from June until classes begin and even while they are ongoing,” Tolentino said in a radio interview.
He said DOLE regional directors have been convened and their assistant regional directors will oversee implementation, which has been coordinated with DepEd at the regional level.
The Brigada Eskwela program runs from June 1 to 5, 2026, mobilizing teachers, parents, volunteers and community members to prepare schools for the new school year through cleaning, repairs and literacy support activities. The DepEd-led initiative this year carries the theme Bayanihan sa Paaralan: Nagkakaisa para sa Kaayusan at Kaalaman, or Unity in Schools for Order and Knowledge.
TUPAD, launched in 2009 under the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program, provides temporary wage employment ranging from 10 to 30 days to marginalized, underemployed or displaced workers. Beneficiaries are typically assigned community work and paid at the regional minimum wage rate.
Beyond Brigada Eskwela, Tolentino announced plans to link TUPAD with livelihood training programs under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, whose board he also chairs, to provide start-up capital and starter kits to TESDA graduates to help them establish small businesses.
“I want to connect the DILEEP program to TESDA’s livelihood training programs. We should have records of youth who completed six- to eight-month training courses and track where they went after. I see that the program can also provide them starter kits and capital so they can go into business,” Tolentino said. (JCO/PIA-NCR)
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