“We at the Human Development and Poverty Reduction (HDPRC) cluster of the government stand committed towards our national target of lifting six million Filipinos out of poverty.”
This is what Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary and HDPRC Chair Virginia “Gee” Orogo assured Filipinos as she reported the accomplishment of the government’s poverty reduction cluster in a pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) forum held recently at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).
Being chaired by DSWD, HDPRC is one of the clusters under the new cluster system of the bureaucracy. Other clusters include the Economic Development; Infrastructure; Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation; Security, Justice, and Peace; and Participatory Governance.
According to Sec. Orogo, the HDPRC has a target of alleviating the lives of six million Filipinos from poverty—a decline of the overall poverty rate to 14 percent by 2022 from the current 21.6 percent.
To reach this target, the cluster, which is composed of 18 cabinet members, has started to address fundamental issues related to education, health, social protection, and rural development.
“The HDPRC is mandated to exert all efforts to improve the quality of life of our Filipino people through a broad-based approach in the delivery of services,” the HDPRC chair said.
During the pre-SONA forum entitled, “Tatak ng Pagbabago: Tatak ng Malasakit at Pagkakaisa,” Sec. Orogo reported the accomplishments of the HDPRC cluster in different sectors.
Increase in enrollment
For the education sector, the Secretary reported there has been an increase in enrollment of 14.5 percent for kindergarten and elementary education, and 25.6 percent in secondary education. Of the total number of enrollees, she said that 4.9 million pupils and 3.9 million high school students are all children of the DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) household-beneficiaries.
Healthcare for the vulnerable sector
For the health advancement efforts of the government, Sec. Orogo shared that 93 percent of Filipinos are already covered by PhilHealth. These include the 32.7 million indigents listed on the DSWD’s Listahanan of poor households and 8.6 million senior citizens. Meanwhile, the Medical Assistance for the Indigents Patients (MAIP) has served a total of 751,007 clients, while the DSWD’s Lingap sa Masa has benefited a total of 63,178 clients.
“Inaasahan po natin na sa lalong madaling panahon, mabubuo at mapapasa na rin ang universal health coverage for all Filipinos bilang tugon sa karampatang serbisyong pangkalusugan sa bawat pamilyang Pilipino (We are expecting that the universal health coverage for all Filipinos will be passed into law as soon as possible, serving as the government’s response to providing health services to every Filipino household),” she said.
On Friday, the DSWD, together with the Department of Health (DOH), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) signed a Joint Administrative Order on Streamlining Access to Medical Assistance Fund of the Government in support of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s directive to efficiently and effectively deliver government services for indigent citizens.
The joint administrative order features the establishment of ‘one-stop shops’ or “Malasakit Centers” in all PhilHealth-accredited hospitals and health care providers to assist indigent Filipinos to finance their medical needs or the needs of their ill relatives by lessening the queues, waiting hours, and paper works needed by patients in order to apply for medical assistance.
Unified System for social services
When it comes to enhanced social protection, Sec. Orogo reported that the government has aided Overseas Filipino (OFs), pursuing bilateral labor agreements through memoranda of understanding with different countries for better working conditions and stronger protection to them. She also said that a total of 4.2 million beneficiaries of the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) have already received their grants. The target beneficiaries who will receive the UCT are expected to reach an estimated 8 million on or before the SONA,
“As a way forward, a common database and Unified ID system for all social services is currently being studied to facilitate further the delivery of our services to the poor,” the Secretary stated.
Rural development support
On rural development, Sec. Orogo reported that the government has intensified its support to farmers and fisherfolk to improve their capability through solar power irrigation system, national color-coded agricultural guide, “magsasakang mekaniko,” and livelihood interventions.
According to her, a total of 80 programs and services converging across 35 national line, attached, and coordinative agencies make up the contribution of the government to human development and poverty reduction.
Make this nation great again
Sec. Orogo urged the public to continue to support the efforts of President Rodrigo Duterte to help the Filipino people.
“The roadmap to achieving an improved quality of life for all may not be easy for us, nevertheless, we affirm continuously that alone, we can only do so much, but together, as one family, we can do everything,” Sec. Orogo said.
“I call on everyone that we join hands together in our best efforts to support the President’s directives to help our Filipino people—especially the needy, disadvantaged, marginalized, and vulnerable sectors of our society towards making this nation great again,” she ended. ###
