The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) welcomes the result of the PAHAYAG 2023 second quarter survey which showed the agency among the top trusted government agencies with a 65 percent approval rating.

PAHAYAG is an independent and non-commissioned survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia Inc.

About 1,500 respondents across the country participated in the poll which was conducted from June 8 to 12.

DSWD Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez thanked the Filipino people for their trust and confidence in the Department, through its various programs that gives direct service to poor families and vulnerable sectors.

“On behalf of Secretary Rex Gatchalian and the whole DSWD, I would like to extend our gratitude to the Filipino people for their continuing confidence and trust in the Department,” said Asst. Secretary Lopez, who is also the DSWD spokesperson.

“We owe this high rating to our dedicated staff and partners who continue to ensure that we provide the best quality service to our Kababayans in need,” Asst. Secretary Lopez pointed out.

“We will use this survey result as a source of inspiration to strengthen and improve our delivery of services and programs under the leadership of Secretary Gatchalian,” the DSWD spokesperson said.

The DSWD continues to implement big-ticket programs that address poverty and hunger. These are the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP), the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services Kalahi-CIDSS), the Assistance for Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) and the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens, among others.

The latest DSWD flagship project is the Food Stamp Program (FSP), which aims to provide food augmentation to the bottom 1 million households from Listahanan 3, who belong to the food poor criteria as defined by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The FSP is currently in the design phase and the DSWD targets to roll out the pilot implementation by July to December this year. It would be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) through grants amounting to US$3 million.

The Food Stamp Program will be conducted in five pilot sites with “different geopolitical characteristics.” This includes the selected cities and municipalities in National Capital Region, Caraga Region and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The pilots sites targeted are geographically isolated regions, urban poor settings, calamity-stricken areas, and rural poor areas.

“We have to do the pilot at 3,000 families; 300,000 hopefully next year sa first run; another 300,000 right after and then hopefully, reach the magic number of one million in the succeeding year,” Secretary Gatchalian said in an earlier interview.

Target beneficiaries or those families whose income does not go beyond P8,000 a month will be given electronic benefit card or ‘tap cards’ which will be loaded with food credits amounting to P3,000.

On Thursday (June 29), the DSWD is set to conduct a Partnership Forum featuring its new priority programs, including the Food Stamp Project, to determine new areas for collaboration with development partners and stakeholders.#

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will present new priority programs and services to its development partners and stakeholders in its upcoming Partnership Forum on Social Welfare and Social Protection on Thursday (June 29) at the Seda Vertis North, Quezon City.

With the theme, “Investing in Filipinos: Investing in the Future,” the event aims to provide a venue for meaningful discussions to strengthen and improve the delivery of social welfare and social protection programs in the Philippines.

According to DSWD spokesperson, Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez, the Department organized the partnership forum to promote the whole-of-nation approach to address poverty and hunger.

“Hopefully, we will be able to determine new areas for collaboration with our development partners such as resource complementation and convergence of programs and services to cater to the needs of our target sectors,” said Asst. Secretary Lopez.

Among the programs that will be featured in the forum are the WALANG GUTOM 2027: Food Provision through Strategic Transfer and Alternative Measures Program (Food STAMP); Buong Bansa Handa; the DSWD Academy; Paspas Serbisyo – Digital Transformation; Oplan Pag-Abot Project and the Retooling of Social Welfare Programs.

Under the leadership of Secretary Rex Gatchalian, the DSWD will continue to prioritize the ease of delivering social welfare programs by establishing strategic partnerships with various partners and stakeholders to become more responsive to the needs of poor, marginalized, and vulnerable Filipinos.

Some of the development partners and stakeholders that will be attending the June 29 event are officials and representatives of the World Bank (WB) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN); the UN Resident Coordinator Office; the European Union Delegation in the Philippines; the Australian Embassy in the Philippines and the Provincial Government of Occidental Mindoro.#

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian showed his support to the protection of children during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Dialogue on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

During the opening session of the conference at the Manila Diamond Residences in Makati City Thursday (June 22), Secretary Gatchalian called for the member states of the ASEAN to join hands in improving the promotion and protection of child rights in the region.

“As the next generation of leaders, we must continue to ensure that children are able to thrive in a safe, nurturing, and enabling environment wherein they can freely participate and develop their full potential,” Secretary Gatchalian said.

The DSWD chief also pointed out the importance of the dialogue to provide a regional platform to collaboratively discuss ways to strengthen the enjoyment of the rights of the child.

“This dialogue is a crucial event to share good practices and to determine new areas for cross sectoral collaboration to strengthen regional solidarity and cooperation in the ASEAN,” Secretary Gatchalian noted.

Through this dialogue, ASEAN countries are expected to respond to the recommendations and observations by the Child Rights Coalition (CRC) Asia in the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world.

Among the concerns to be discussed in the conference are the overall effects of the COVID 19 pandemic; digital environment; climate change and the environment; gender and disability inclusions; cultural background; right to health; trafficking in person and other transnational crimes and literacy.

The DSWD chief also expressed gratitude to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) for spearheading the event, as part of the Philippine government’s continuing initiative to promote the rights of children in ASEAN since 2018.

The dialogue, which will end on Friday (June 23), is being spearheaded by the AICHR in partnership with the CRC Asia and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) East Asia and Pacific Regional Office (UNICEF-EAPRO). #

Different representatives of various fields of social work came together to celebrate Filipino Social Workers’ Day on 23 June 2023 in Angeles City.

The event aims to recognize the unique efforts of the different fields as an essential part of a holistic mechanism to improve the quality of life of Filipinos.

The highlight of the event is the signing of their pledge of commitment to more effective collaboration.

The symbolic activity was first signed by DSWD Region III Director Jonathan V. Dirain followed by other social work leaders.

Their pledge reads:

“We, the representatives of different social work organizations in Central Luzon take this pledge to commit ourselves, with utmost sincerity, to uphold the spirit of unity and collaboration.

Guided by the objectives of the ASEAN Social Work Consortium – Philippines, we pledge to support and collaborate with the Central Luzon Social Work Consortium on programs and initiatives that promote the profession, strengthen solidarity, and institutionalize effective collaboration for the development of social workers and schools of social work in the region. As social work leaders, we will promote and foster a harmonious working environment for all social workers, guided by our profession’s philosophy, values, and principles.

This is our pledge.”

The pledge of commitment was led by Jefran P. Olingay, Chairperson of the consortium and a social worker in the court setting.

Other officers of the consortium are: Jasper P. Nicolas (Vice-Chairperson, Association of DSWD Social Workers, Inc.), Dr. Mary Grace T. Sandico (Treasurer, National Association of Social Work Education, Inc.), Melanie M. Barnachea (Secretariat, DSWD Region III), and Nedda Angelica D. Dizon (Assit. Secretariat, DSWD Region III).

Despite various efforts of different social workers, there is still a lot of room to raise the level of awareness of the public towards the profession.

Up until today, misconceptions about the role of the profession are still deeply engraved in the consciousness of people. Media play an important role in how they are depicted in various media materials, especially in news.

To name a few of the most common misconceptions, some people still believe that social workers are in charge of dole-out services such as the distribution of relief goods. They are also used to scare children who dwell in the street.

Social Workers are more than that. The profession uses scientific, research-based approaches and it is regulated by the Professional Regulations Commission.

They provide various interventions to address the gaps that hinder individuals, groups, and communities to function to their fullest potential. They operate based on human rights, strengths, motivations, and resources of people.

DSWD Region III director Jonathan V. Dirain said that after being installed in his position in 2022, he came to believe that social work is the noblest profession in the country.

Glady Quindoza-Bunao, MSW (Chairperson, ASEAN Social Work-Consortium Philippines) said that she feels honored to be given the opportunity to help others, “Let us continue to stand united for the recognition of the value of our profession by fostering meaningful partnerships with other professions,” she said as she called the crowd to action.

In partnership with the Junior Social Workers Association of the Philippines – Central Luzon Chapter, the Central Luzon Social Work Consortium (CLSWC) organized the first region-wide celebration of Filipino Social Worker’s Day on 23 June 2023 in Angeles City. The event was spearheaded by Jefran P. Olingay, Chairperson of CLSWC, in partnership with DSWD Region III and Junior Social Workers Association of the Philippines Central Luzon.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) showed its commitment to strengthening the social work practice in the country during the celebration of the 2023 Filipino Social Workers’ Day on Monday (June 19), at the Social Welfare and Development Center for the Asia and the Pacific (SWADCAP) Compound in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

In his speech, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian shared the plans of the Department for sustaining responsive Filipino social workers amid the ever-changing landscape of the social welfare practice, including the establishment of the DSWD Academy.

“There has to be a continuing learning facility in the department or in the country that foster specialized training for social workers, continuing learning ninyo (for you all), kasi (because) the world does not stop, it keeps on evolving,” the DSWD chief pointed out.