South Cotabato, Philippines | December 3, 2025 — The Department of Labor and Employment Region 12 (DOLE-12), together with the Provincial Employment Services Unit (PESU), is ramping up its onsite monitoring of the ongoing 10-day Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program across three municipalities and one city in South Cotabato
Dennis C. Dignadice, Executive Assistant IV of the Office of the Provincial Governor – Barangay Affairs Unit (OPG-BAU, emphasized that the team is personally visiting TUPAD sites to confirm the beneficiaries’ actual tasks and ensure the honest and proper implementation of the program.
“By visiting the sites ourselves, we can guarantee that TUPAD is implemented fairly, truthfully, and according to guidelines,” Dignadice noted.
The monitoring team covered Banga and Surallah on December 2, followed by Koronadal City and Sto. Niño on December 3 for thorough field validation.
Koronadal City recorded 391 beneficiaries from 27 barangays, all part of the Re-Enforce Services Taskforce (RST).
In Sto. Niño, 84 workers from 10 barangays were listed, all of whom were RST members who had not previously received TUPAD assistance.
Meanwhile, Banga reported 316 beneficiaries from 22 selected barangays, also limited to RST participants.
In Surallah, 160 workers from 14 barangays completed the list. In total, 951 beneficiaries have signed, with 49 more awaiting completion out of the 1,000 TUPAD slots allotted.
Program Assistant Jan Edzel Batilo Isales underscored the value of consistent ground monitoring, saying it ensures that guidelines are followed and that beneficiaries are truly performing their assigned tasks.
“Close monitoring is very important so that we can see the proper implementation and track the progress of the beneficiaries,” he said.
(Importante gid ang close monitoring para makita naton ang insakto nga pag-implementar kag makita ang agi sang mga benepisyaryo).
Community Organizer Maiden Sunga Tuazon echoed this, stressing that physically visiting the sites is necessary to validate the workers’ actual outputs.
“Being on-site allows us to confirm that the workers’ outputs are genuine and meet program standards,” Tuazon said.
Through this intensified monitoring, the Provincial Government reinforces transparency, accountability, and genuine service delivery for all TUPAD beneficiaries in South Cotabato.
