DSWD program assists 953K individuals in crisis in Ilocos Region

MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has served 953,149 individuals in the Ilocos Region under its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program from 2022 to the present.

DSWD-Ilocos Region director Marie Angela Gopalan, during the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas forum hosted by the Philippine Information Agency-Region 1 on Tuesday, said food aid still tops the requests among other assistance being offered by the agency under the program.

“It underscores that hunger is still an urgent concern, especially during crisis,” she said, adding that food assistance requests under AICS program totaled 65,809, followed by medical aid with 43,731, then educational, burial, transportation and other assistance.

AICS serves as a social safety net or stop-gap measure to support the recovery of individuals and families suffering from unexpected life events or crisis. The provision of psychosocial intervention and/or direct financial/material assistance may enable them to meet their basic needs in the form of food, transportation, medical, educational, and burial assistance, the DSWD stated.

Meanwhile, Gopalan said some 79,735 households in the Ilocos Region were served through emergency cash transfer, and 59,502 households through cash-for-work and food-for-work programs from 2022 to present.

The other programs of the DSWD also served 606,858 poor and near-poor households, 715,344 poor and near-poor children, 156,088 poor and near-poor youth, 257,920 poor and near-poor women, 272,991 poor and near-poor senior citizens, and 2,572 poor and near-poor persons with disabilities from 2022 to present.

Under the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps), some 245,000 households benefited from the conditional cash grants for their children’s education, health, and rice subsidy, she said.

“4Ps has been instrumental to the success of five topnotchers, 928 board passers, almost 300,000 college graduates, 103,000 senior high school graduates, and more than 25,000 academic achievers,” Gopalan said in Filipino.

As part of the DSWD’s disaster response management, she said, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between their agency and the Department of Labor and Employment for the response preparedness initiative of the department as part of the national action plan of the government in response to El Niño and the looming La Niña phenomena.

“This year we are targeting 10,000 individuals to benefit from the project. The MOU is to strengthen the implementation of cash for work designed to maintain agriculture production during dry periods and manage excess water during heavy rainfall associated with La Niña,” Gopalan said.

Gopalan also presented data showing that from more than 222,000, the number of targeted poor families in the Ilocos Region is down to 209,000.

“This is because some of the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps have graduated or exited from the program because their children already reached 18 years old and they have become self-sufficient based on our assessment,” Gopalan said.

One of the achievers was Diana Yna Gironella of Candon City, Ilocos Sur, a 4Ps beneficiary who secured the No. 9 spot in the May 2024 licensure examination for teachers.

“My family is so happy for this achievement. I am so thankful for the support and sacrifices,” Gironella said in a media interview Tuesday.

To ensure the continuing success of the 4Ps beneficiary families, the DSWD said it has partnered with local government units (LGUs) to help them organize as a group and engage in small businesses under the so-called sustainable livelihood program (SLP).

In the past two years, the DSWD Field Office 1 recorded a total of 360 SLP associations composed of 28,000 individuals who underwent a capability-building or training on entrepreneurship.

The LGU, on the other hand, has provided businesses with start-up capital, soft loan and free training on business management, among others.

Meanwhile, a total of 177 4Ps contract of service workers took their oaths on Tuesday to boost the implementation of the national poverty reduction strategy in the region.

The contractualization ensures job security among 4Ps staff, leading to an unhampered provision of programs to the target household beneficiaries. (PNA)