In consideration of the changes brought about by the new normal, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Luzon Field Offices signed a resolution establishing a DSWD
Field Office Inter-Regional Cooperation and Support.

The resolution was signed by the Regional Directors of the Luzon Cluster namely, Arnel Garcia, Marie Angela Gopalan, Marites Maristela, Cezario Joel Espejo, Marcelo Nicomedes Castillo, Fernando De Villa, Vicente Gregorio Tomas, Leo Quintilla. The signing was witnessed by Undersecretaries Danilo Pamonag and Rene Glen Paje and Director Irene Dumlao.

The DSWD Regional Directors from Luzon initiated the creation of the regional cooperation and support following the recent turn of events which had affected the delivery of social welfare and
development programs and services. The occurrence of the pandemic and evidently stronger natural calamities ushered in a new normal that requires adjustments in the ways programs and services should be delivered to the public.

In addition, the recent Mandanas ruling which resulted in the devolution of numerous major programs of the Department to the local government units (LGUs) is also a major factor in this new development.

Based on the resolution, the Luzon DSWD Field Offices committed to make their respective operations better by undertaking active collaborative engagements towards a sustained quality of
service across regions. Specifically, they will inter-operate to address common concerns and challenges and recommend solutions and increase effectiveness and impact of service delivery by
pooling and maximizing their resources.

These goals of the Regional Support and Cooperation can be achieved through engaging in inter regional exchanges in terms of knowledge management sharing and staff development; conduct of
periodic consultations to discuss and assess cooperation activities; and provide inter-regional technical assistance and resource augmentation to ensure timely delivery of social services, among
others.

By ensuring that all DSWD Regional Offices are in harmony towards the implementation of better programs and services, the DSWD can expect that customer satisfaction will be achieved across
regions.

After initiating the inter regional cooperation and support in Luzon, the same will be expanded to the Visayas and Mindanao region. ###