Teaching and non-teaching personnel of higher education institutions who lost their jobs with the implementation of the K to 12 program receive expanded assistance with the effectivity of a new order, the labor department announced over the weekend.

Department Order No. 177 which takes effect on October 16 also raised the amount of financial support available to displaced HEI personnel. The new order supersedes DO 152-16 or the Guidelines in the Implementation of K to 12 DOLE Adjustment Measures Program.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III encouraged HEI personnel to avail of the assistance as provided for in the new order.

Among the amendments under the department order are the expansion of program coverage, extension of application period, increase in the amount of Financial Support, and provision of differential financial support based on the new computation of monetary aid.

Beneficiaries will now receive assistance equivalent to either P10,000, 75 percent of the applicant's last monthly gross salary, or the prevailing median salary of HEI personnel, whichever is higher.

The K to 12 DOLE AMP will now as well include those who have availed of the early retirement program and voluntary separation program, those whose contracts were not renewed, and those who are under work suspension.

Moreover, with the extension of the application period, the K to 12 DOLE AMP will cover HEI personnel displaced between May 30, 2014, the date of issuance of the DOLE-DepEd-TESDA-CHED Joint Guidelines, and the end of the academic year 2021-2022.

To ease application and to cater to more beneficiaries, the six documentary requirements were reduced to four, and the application period is extended from one month to one year.

The documentary requirements are duly accomplished K to 12 DOLE AMP application form; Certificate of Displacement, or a copy of complaint duly received by the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), in case the beneficiary has filed a case before the NLRC; Certificate of Employment and Compensation; and any government-issued identification card.

Applicants must personally submit their complete documentary requirements at any DOLE Regional or Field Offices not later than one (1) year from the date of displacement; while HEI personnel displaced prior to the issuance of D.O. 177 are given within one (1) year from its issuance to apply for the assistance.

For totally displaced beneficiaries to continually receive the financial support, a conditional requirement of one proof of active job search or "job contact" is required.

The new order is retroactive to May 30, 2014. Existing beneficiaries and those who have completed the program shall receive differential financial support based on the new financial support computation.

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