THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assumed expanded role under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. as the people are seeking more social support and assistance.
The President has taken note of the expanded role of the DSWD as he urged the agency to provide aid to the needy with care and compassion.
“At dahil dumadami ang nangangailangan ng tulong at ayuda, lumalawak tuloy ang inyong mandato,” President Marcos said during DSWD’s 73rd anniversary celebration held at its central office in Quezon City.
The President said lawmakers recognized the need to prop up DSWD’s ability to do its mandate by providing it more resources. He said that for this year, Congress augmented AKAP’s (Abot Kamay Ang Pagtulong program) budget making it PhP27 billion to aid small laborers cope with the rising prices of basic necessities.
“Suma-tutal, malaking bahagi ng populasyon ng mga nangangailangan sa ating bansa ay nadadaupan ng tulong ng DSWD,” Marcos said.
Congress also increased DSWD’s budget this year to P245 billion, from last year’s PhP196 and a half billion, resulting in bigger payroll for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and Senior Pension and other support.
For 4Ps, Congress allotted PhP106 billion to cover more than four million families. This in addition to PhP49.8 billion for social pension of 4.085 million senior citizens, including centenarians.
DSWD’s food catering operation, which will serve tens of millions of hot meals to 2.027 million preschool children in communities, got an allocation of PhP4.1 billion.
During Friday’s event, President Marcos led the launching of the DSWD’s Disaster Response Command Center (DRCC) to ensure efficient disaster response and relief operations in the country.
The centralized hub, which will be operational next month, will ensure that all situation reports from DSWD’s regional offices are consolidated, automated, consistent and compatible with the country’s other command centers involved in other aspects of disaster management.
In a speech, Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian said the hub will ensure efficiency of DSWD’s disaster response and relief operations throughout the country.
It will also provide real-time data to allow the agency conduct quick overview of its stockpile of relief goods during times of disasters and emergencies.
The hub is interoperable with other agencies such as Department of National Defense (DND), MMDA, Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), Philippine Red Cross, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).
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