In an effort to bring the government closer to the people and to ensure unhampered public service despite the pandemic, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) emphasized that, together with its Field Offices, it will continue to effectively address the concerns of the public through  its 8888 Citizens’ Complaint Center.

8888 is a 24/7 public service hotline to allow the citizens to report poor frontline service delivery and corrupt practices in all government agencies.

DSWD disclosed that from March to September 2020, the Department processed 12,905 tickets for various requests, inquiries, and complaints from the public.

Of this number, 7,600 tickets were all related to the emergency cash subsidy under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) which ranked as the top concern every month during the period. Among the issues raised were inclusion and exclusion in the SAP, complaints about irregularities in the local government units, and inquiries regarding the release of the subsidy for waitlisted beneficiaries.

Despite the pandemic, the Center maintained a hundred percent referral rate from March up to the succeeding months.

Apart from continuously managing the 8888 hotline, the Citizens’ Complaint Center also responds to phone calls and attends to walk-in clients.

DSWD encouraged the public to continue to use the 8888 hotline, as well as its other grievance platforms, to ensure prompt resolutions to public grievances and to provide feedback on the actions taken on citizens’ concerns. ###