“There are two kings in the DSWD: data and the social worker. You mix them together, you get the perfect targeting tool and the perfect intervention.”
This was emphasized by Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian in a no-holds-barred interview last June 19 over the program ‘Long Take’ with Ces Drilon.
Secretary Gatchalian said the Department values both statistics and the sentiments of the public in the conceptualization, implementation, and in the evaluation of the agency’s programs and services.
This is in response to the misconception that the DSWD disregards self-rated polls, preferring the surveys conducted by the Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA), as raised during the interview.
“We use both. We will never dispute data. And data is king in the DSWD…in fact, doon sa hunger (program), Globe wanted to work with us. Sabi namin, huwag na mag-donate. Why don’t you commission the Social Weather Stations (SWS) to track down our program? Para alam namin kung yung intervention gumagana,” Secretary Gatchalian told Drilon.
In the SWS survey commissioned by Globe, the results showed that the hunger incidence among the 300,000 beneficiaries of the DSWD’s Walang Gutom Program (WGP) went down.
The data culled from the self-rated SWS survey is an indication that the program is gaining traction and will serve as a platform for further improvements, according to the DSWD chief.
Aside from data, the DSWD chief said social workers, similarly, are of great importance to the Department.
The data is needed in providing a basis in the selection of targets and in developing the right program while social workers provide their skills in case management and input their experiential knowledge.
The DSWD chief opined that combining the data available and the experience of the social worker will result in an efficient implementation, especially needed in alleviating poverty, which does not happen overnight.
“Experiential is our social worker. Kasi lahat ng programa namin mula ayuda, sa AICs, AKAP, lahat yan may case management. Experience is about case management.
Our social worker will go to you, interview you, assess you, alamin kung anong kailangan mo at anong problema ng pamilya mo o ng indibidwal,” Secretary Gatchalian explained.
Expressing appreciation for their work, the DSWD chief told the Long Take host: “Magagaling yung mga social workers ng DSWD,” sharing that efforts are currently being made so that more can be given regular items instead of contractual positions. (GDVF)