“Maka step-in na jud ko.” (I can now wear my step in). For Merlinda Castillo, a 41 year-old community member of Barangay Libo-o in Ronda, Cebu, wearing her beloved step-in sandals without fear of ruining them in the mud represents more than just personal comfort. It is a sign of a brighter, more accessible future. Merlinda shared how she used to carry her “step-in” sandals and walk barefoot to avoid damaging them. Despite her precautions, she would go through at least three pairs of sandals a year, their soles worn away by the harsh conditions. For years, Merlinda and her […]

More than 36,000 combatants, former rebels (FRs) and former violent extremists (FVEs) have received livelihood grants and other forms of assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) from 2015 to August this year. In an interview over radio station DZXL on Tuesday (August 13), DSWD Undersecretary for Inclusive, Sustainable Peace and Special Concerns (ISPSC) Alan Tanjusay said the DSWD, in collaboration with the OPAPRU, has provided aid under the agency’s Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) and other interventions to members of the Kapatiran para sa […]

Retroactive payments for the education grants have been credited on Wednesday (August 14 ) to the bank accounts of household beneficiaries who were reinstated into the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) following a reassessment using the Social Welfare and Development Indicators (SWDI). “We are pleased to announce that the households reinstated into the 4Ps program have already received their education grants through the LandBank of the Philippines. These 4Ps beneficiaries whose grants were temporarily put on hold while the SWDI assessment was being conducted,” 4Ps National Program Manager and Director Gemma Gabuya said on Wednesday (August 14). According to Director […]

Heeding the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr for a human-rights based approach to drug abuse prevention and control, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continues to strengthen its current efforts to address drug use among children and adolescents through the formulation of a Model of Intervention (MOI). The DSWD’s Social Technology Bureau (STB), in collaboration with the Dangerous Drugs Board and the ASEAN Training Center for Preventive Drug Education (ATCPDE) conducted a series of write shops for the development of the MOI early this June. The MOI, to be implemented in Special Drug Education Centers (SDECs) […]

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian talked about the ongoing initiatives and updates on the agency’s programs and services to mitigate stunting and hunger, upskilling social workers and paraprofessionals, and reaching out families and individuals in street situations (FISS), among others during the Kapihan sa Manila Prince online show. “Tama nga po kayo na hindi naman DSWD lang ang may responsibilidad sa paglaban sa kahirapan. Sabi nga ng ating pangulo, ang instruction nya, whole-of-government-approach. Kung hindi nga whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach kasama ang private sector… Pero pag pag-uusapan ang DSWD, gusto ko i-highlight yung instruction ng ating […]

More than 9,000 volunteers who heeded the call of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) have so far produced 344,316 boxes of family food packs (FFPs) as replenishment to the FFPs distributed to families affected by Typhoon Carina and the Habagat. “We would like to thank the volunteers who have responded to  our call. We would not have achieved this big production without your help,” DSWD Asst. Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Irene Dumlao, who is also the agency spokesperson said on Tuesday (August 13). Since July 23, volunteers continue to go to the National Resource […]

In its continuing effort to strengthen the social protection system in the country, the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) National Household Targeting Office (NHTO), conducted a test run of the i-Registro, a dynamic social registry (DSR) for the agency’s potential beneficiaries. “The i-Registro will streamline the delivery of social protection services, standardize targeting systems, and facilitate information exchanges and interoperability with other social protection program databases,” the DSWD’s NHTO Director Jimmy Francis Schuck II said on Wednesday (August 14). The DSR was piloted in the municipalities of Pateros in Metro Manila, Cordova in Cebu, and Floridablanca in Pampanga […]

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation Inc. (PDRF) that aims to establish a harmonized data-sharing infrastructure synergizing the disaster preparedness and response efforts between the two agencies. “We know that disaster response and wide-scale disasters can be overwhelming, but with the private sector being able to tailor-fit and complement our efforts it becomes easier,” DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said in his message during the ceremonial signing held at the Central Office on Friday (August 9). The MOU signing aims to strengthen the collaboration between […]