MANILA: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday called on the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to continue serving the Filipinos, especially the disadvantaged, with ‘kindness, understanding, and compassion.’
Marcos made the call during the DSWD’s 73rd anniversary celebration, as he hailed the agency’s efforts to go beyond “easing the pain of victims of misfortune.’
In a speech delivered at the DSWD compound in Batasan Hills, Quezon City, Marcos said he expects the DSWD to offer a ‘sincere’ public service that gives hope to the underprivileged.
‘You are the country’s social welfare forces always on red alert in a country where distress calls for disaster victims and disadvantaged sectors never end. As you put our people out of harm’s way and onto the road to recovery and a better life, always serve your clientele with care and compassion as you have been doing,’ he said.
‘Treat them with kindness, with understanding and compassion because that care is a hallmark of public service as
well. Empathy goes a long way, empathy that you have demonstrated very clearly in this past year,’ he added.
Marcos said the DSWD is more than just a ‘central office,’ saying it is a ‘headquarters of our war against poverty’ where the necessary assistance is extended to the needy.
He also thanked the DSWD for serving the country, especially at the height of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
He also acknowledged the agency’s efforts to help the disadvantaged sectors in becoming ‘productive members [of the mainstream society] fully exercising their right to realize their full potential.’
‘What we have done is extended the mission of the DSWD to go to the roots of why they have been put in the category of being poor, of suffering poverty, of being undernourished, [of being] uneducated,’ Marcos said.
‘The safety nets the DSWD deploys to catch those who have fallen into the cracks of society come with opportunity ladders to help themselves climb out from the state they find themselves in,’ he added.
Mar
cos said DSWD programs have never been regarded as a hand out but as a ”hand up’ designed to help people pull themselves up from the rut that they have been thrown into through no fault of their own.’
The DSWD’s founding anniversary celebration carried the theme, ‘DSWD Angels in Red Vests: Empathy on Action, Integrity in Service, Unity in Community.’
During the event, the DSWD’s Disaster Response Command Center (DRCC), which is made to ensure the agency’s efficient disaster response and relief operations nationwide, was also launched.
The DRCC will serve as a central hub for disaster monitoring, reporting, and coordination of preparedness and response efforts.
It will utilize advanced information and communication equipment or assets to ensure the seamless collaboration between the DSWD Central Office, DSWD Field Offices, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council member-agencies, and other stakeholders.
The DSWD also launched the “Buong Bansa Handa” Project that will establish two parallel
supply chain mechanisms for disaster preparedness and response which will enhance the capacity of the Department in meeting the needs of families in various disaster-stricken areas.
DSWD Spokesperson Romel Lopez said the launching of the DRCC and the Buong Bansa Handa is in line with President Marcos’ directive to accelerate the provision of services to disaster-affected families and ensure that no one is left behind in times of emergencies.
He said it is also intended to enhance the department’s capabilities as the lead agency of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
Lopez said the first mechanism of Buong Bansa Handa features a national and local government-driven supply chain that will improve the production capacities and processes of the DSWD’s National Resource Operations Center (NROC) in Pasay City, the Visayas Disaster Resource Center (VDRC) in Cebu, and warehouse and storage facilities across the 16 DSWD FOs.
A disaster resource center shall also be established in
Butuan City, Caraga Region to cater to Mindanao areas, according to Lopez.
Under the second mechanism, the DSWD shall forge partnerships with established large and small groceries, supermarkets, manufacturers, and distributors to leverage their technical expertise and resources to create a private sector-driven supply chain.
Under these partnerships, the DSWD aims to achieve a more effective and reliable supply chain, ensuring comprehensive coverage and timely assistance to affected families in all disaster-affected areas.
DSWD’s accomplishments
In his speech, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian highlighted the DSWD’s huge role in decreasing the poverty incidence in the Philippines from 23.7 percent in 2021 to 22.4 percent in 2023, and subsistence incidence from 9.9 percent in 2021 to 8.7 percent in 2023.
‘The DSWD has gone a long way in responding to the challenges of providing social protection to the poor, marginalized, and vulnerable sectors of society. This is through the effective implementation of proje
cts and services under the ‘Bawat Buhay Mahalaga’ banner,’ he said.
Among the notable accomplishments that Gatchalian reported were the exit of 674,452 household beneficiaries from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps); the provision of Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program to over 6.5 million clients; and the record-breaking number of over 2 million family food packs distributed to localities affected by disasters and calamities in 2023.
He also reported the status of the new programs and other innovations launched by the agency from the time he assumed as secretary on Feb. 1, 2023.
For the Oplan Pag-Abot, the DSWD was able to reach out to 1,772 families and individuals in street situations in just six months of the program’s implementation.
Through the Tara, Basa! Program, the reformatted educational assistance program of the DSWD, an increase in the involvement of college students in nation-building while completing tertiary education with 80 percent or 5,487 out of 6,829
of trained tutors was noted.
The Tara, Basa! program also saw a 5.5 percent increase in the number of grade schoolers who achieved reading proficiency at their appropriate grade level from 13,933 to 14,700 as determined by a comprehensive rapid literacy assessment (CRLA).
In 2023, the pilot implementation of the Walang Gutom 2027: Food Stamp Program (FSP) was held in Tondo, Manila and Dapa, Siargao Island, providing PHP3,000 worth of monthly food credits to food-poor beneficiaries through their electronic benefit transfer cards (EBT). The FSP is set to conduct its full pilot implementation this 2024 and scale up its operations to fight involuntary hunger in the country.
‘As we go on our 74th anniversary, you can rest assured that the Department will continue to strive to not only be the lead provider of social protection but to make sure that our Department is the incubator of innovations in social protection,’ Gatchalian said.
Source: Philippines News Agency