Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Assistant Secretary Joseline Niwane (2nd row, right) joins the Inter-Agency Task Group Western Mindanao – Management of Returning Filipinos (IATG-MREF) as they welcome Filipino transferees who safely arrived in Bonggao, Tawi-Tawi from Sabah.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Assistant Secretary Joseline Niwane (2nd row, right) joins the Inter-Agency Task Group Western Mindanao – Management of Returning Filipinos (IATG-MREF) as they welcome Filipino transferees who safely arrived in Bonggao, Tawi-Tawi from Sabah.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and other national government agencies welcomed the first batch of Filipino transferees from Sabah on July 4.

Around 305 transferees were met in Bonggao, Tawi-Tawi by DSWD Assistant Secretary Joseline Niwane, the Department’s representative to the Inter-Agency Task Group Western Mindanao for the Management of the Returning Filipinos (IATGWM-MREFs), Secretary Carlito Galvez, Chief Implementer of the National Task Force on COVID-19, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, and Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque. They were also joined by Minister Raissa Jajurie of the Ministry of Social Welfare and Development, Bangsamoro Automous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MSSD-BARMM), Governor Yshmael Sali of Tawi-Tawi, and Mayor Jimuel Shia Que of Bonggao.

The Department, through its Field Office IX, immediately provided assistance comprising of family food packs, sleeping kits, hygiene kits, and financial assistance of P2,000 each to the transferees.

DSWD said that it will continue to coordinate with concerned national and local government agencies to ensure that the next batch of transferees will also safely arrive in their respective places of origin. ###