Cabanatuan City is fast becoming the center of trade, commerce, and industry in Central Luzon. It is the largest city in the province and 5th in Central Luzon, with a land area of 066.64 hectares, composed of 89 barangays. In the 2018 Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) census, conducted by the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO), the city’s total population was estimated at 326,888. The city is popular for its numerous tricycles, hence called “The Tricycle Capital of the Philippines.” Also hailed “the Gateway of the North” since it is a transit for travelers. Historical sites such as the Cabanatuan Cathedral (presently St. Nicholas of Tolentine Cathedral) and Plaza Lucero, the site of General Antonio Luna’s assassination, are found in Cabanatuan City.
Since the enactment of the Local Government Code (R.A. 7160), CSWDO has been placed under the direct supervision of the Local Government Unit. Basic services from the DSWD were transferred to the City: Self-Employment Assistance, Family and Community Welfare Program, Women Welfare Program, Child and Youth Welfare Program, Emergency Assistance Program, and Program for Disabled Persons and Elderly. Devolved Plantilla items include Social Welfare Officer-5, Driver-2, Social Welfare Officer-3 (4 items), Social Welfare Officer 1 (4 items), Social Welfare Assistant (2 items), Social Welfare Aide (2 items), and Manpower Development Assistant.
CSWDO absorbed the devolved programs and services and enhanced them by making timely innovations and initiatives, in the effort to achieve the optimum level of the clients’ well-being and social functioning.
Headed by Ms. Helen S. Bagasao, CSWD Chief and PASWI Nueva Ecija President, CSWDO currently operates through 47 plantilla personnel: the CSWDO, ACSWDO, Supervising Administrative Officer, 2 Social Welfare Officer-4, 5 Social Welfare Officer-3, 4 Social Welfare Officer 2, 15 Social Welfare Officer-1, 8 Social Welfare Aide, 3 Social Welfare Assistant, Administrative Officer-4, Administrative Officer-2, Admin Assistant-2, Admin Aide
4, Cook-2, Cook-1, and Laundress. The divisions/units of CSWDO are outlined below:
- Child and Youth Development Division (CYDD)
- Child Development Section
- Day Care Program
- Children’s Hope Day Center
iii. National Child Development Center (NCDC)
- Child-Minding Center
- Youth Development Section
- Unlad Kabataan Program (for Pag-Asa Youth Association)
- Community Computer Learning Center
- Special Sectors and Livelihood Development Division (SSLDDD)
- Women Section
- Solo-Parent Section
- Empowerment and Reaffirmation of Paternal Abilities (ERPAT)
- Livelihood Section
- Office for Seniors Citizens’ Affair (OSCA)
- Persons’ with Disabilities Affairs Office (OSCA)
- Crisis Intervention Section (CIS)
- Psycho-Social Intervention Unit (PSIU)
- Tahanan ni Maria Center
- Bahay Pag-Asa Residential Care Center
- Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)
- Administrative Division
- GAD Section
- Community Kitchen
During the Local Social Welfare and Development Office (LSWDO) Functionality Assessment conducted by DSWD in August 2019, Cabanatuan CSWDO received the ranking of Level 3 “Expert,” while CSWDO head Ms. Helen Bagasao also received the ranking Level 3 “Expert.”
