Centers and Residential Care facilities of the Department of Social Welfare and Development 10 are now being improved by its management to accommodate more clients which have increased this year.

The Regional Haven for Women, a residential facility that accommodate women who are in very difficult circumstances, have expanded its rooms, kitchen and conference rooms to accommodate more women clients in the said residential facility. With the growing number of women who are under the custody of the DSWD, the agency felt the need to also upgrade its building facilities and furniture to ensure that women who are residing in the facility are given a comfortable accommodation and space.

The Home for Girls, which is a residential facility for female minors who are also in very difficult circumstances, is also being improved. Ongoing construction is being done to ensure that more bedrooms are provided for the girl residents. New furniture and appliances are also installed to provide a more conducive environment to the girl residents while they are under the custody of the DSWD.

Ongoing construction, beautification, and upgrading are also being done in the Regional Reception and Study Center for Children, a center that accommodates children 0-6 years old who are under the custody of the DSWD for various cases. New cribs and beds were purchased for the children, while new appliances were also installed to ensure that the children are provided with proper nutrition, and comfortable accommodation.

In Gingoog City, the Regional Rehabilitation Center for Youth, also a facility for children in conflict with the law who were referred by the courts to the DSWD, is now almost complete with its reparation, construction, and expansion. With the increasing number of children in conflict with the law referred to the DSWD, the agency had to expand its room capacity by renovation, purchase of beds, among others.

The said works is targeted to be completed before 2019 ends to ensure that clients who will be referred for custody with the DSWD, are given appropriate and proper interventions by also improving its facilities.

Written by Charmaine P. Tadlas, Regional Information Officer

PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS. The first nationwide summit of the Regional Juvenile Justice and Welfare Committee and in celebration to the Anniversary of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act or RA 9344 was recently conducted last 20 May 2019 in Manila. The summit was launched to strengthen the advocacy on the rights of children in conflict with the law.

Northern Mindanao was represented by the Regional Juvenile Justice Welfare Council (RJJWC) – Region 10 Committee Members:
Mari-Flor A. Dollaga-Libang – Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare and Development 10, Atty. Nunila Paras – Garcia – Regional Director of the Public Attorneys Officr 10, Mr. Arnel Agabe – Regional Director of the Department of the Interior and Local Governance 10, Atty. Ruby T. Malanog – Deputy Regional Prosecutor of the Department of Justice 10, Atty. Roschelle Dagaraga-Bagas – Attorney V of Commission on Human Rights 10, and RJJWC Secretariat Ronnie G Barros, Deocelyn G. Sabucdalao, Stevie John P. Tobias.

In the summit, members of the RJJWC and stakeholders who support Republic Act 9344, otherwise known as the Juvenile Justice Welfare Act of 2004, signed the wall of commitment signifying their vow to help children who are facing injustices while their cases are in due process.

RJJWC is an attached agency of the Department of Social Welfare and Development which advocates juvenile justice to children in conflict with the law.

Written by: Charmaine P. Tadlas, Regional Information Officer

Bukidnon – The Municipality of Pangantucan in the Province of Bukidnon is home to vast natural resources in the region. However, poverty is still among the recurring concerns of the communities.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) provides services and programs for these poor communities. Since 2009, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the DSWD provided augmentation in monetary form to poor households with children 18 years below. This is to provide them an opportunity to continue and complete their basic education, as the most common concern for families is the lack of finances to send their young learners to school – this, despite the free basic education through public schools – since there are still financial needs like school supplies, transportation, and nutritional needs of the children.

The DSWD’s Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), on the other hand, provides the necessary livelihood assistance to community associations in the barangay level. This is through the micro-enterprise track and employment facilitation.

The empowerment component is brought about the DSWD’s Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) National Community-Driven Development Program (NCDDP) which inculcates the spirit of volunteerism.

Evelyn Secadron Alampayan, married to Nilo Alampayan, and is a mother of five, from Barangay Pigtauranan, Pangantucan, Bukidnon. Evelyn is the current president of the 4Ps Parent Leaders Association of Pangantucan, “dako gyud kayo og katabang ang Pantawid, dili lang sa pagtulun-an, apil usab ang oportunidad nga makapaeskwela kami sa among mga kabataan (Pantawid really helps our community, it doesn’t only provide us with learning, but opportunities to bring our children to school).”  

All of Evelyn’s children are in school, the eldest being now in college and the youngest in the elementary.

“Nakakat-on gyud mi gumikan sa mga trainings ug seminars para sa mga parent leaders, naay mga trainings nga para mahimo kang epektibo ug maayo nga lider (we really learned from the seminars and trainings provided for the parent leaders, there are trainings on how to become good and effective leaders) said Evelyn.

“Dinhi namo nabati nga aduna diay kami bili ug importansya diri sa among lungsod (this is where we felt that we are valued and we are important to our municipality) continued Evelyn.

“Ang FDS o Family Development Session sa 4Ps dako gyud kayo og tabang alang sa amo, hilabi na mga pagtulun-an kabahin sa pagdumala sa kwarta, pagtigom, ug uban pa (The family development sessions or FDS of the 4Ps is really helpful, especially the knowledge in terms of managing our finances, savings and so on) says Evelyn.

Evelyn also discussed how this poverty alleviation program has provided opportunities to let families improve their level of wellbeing – in such aspects as finance, nutrition, health, and education.

Evelyn took these learning to heart as she was selected to lead their community’s SLP association as the president.

“Sa first namo nga grupo, mao tong beads work making, amo na gyud nang nakita kung unsa gyud ang natabang sa among mga pamilya, ang gi-kapital namo sa grupo kay ang P1,000, naa mi traynta ka miyembro so P30,000 karon, naa pa among tindahan nagbarog pa ang among individual mao ang P4,000 nga among gi-negosyo sa beads work (our first group, that was beads work making, we really saw how this helped our families, our group had P1,000 and since were 30 individuals that equated to P30,000 and our group’s store is still operational and each of us had P4,000 which we invested in beads work) says Evelyn.”

“Ang uban pod ilang gi padayon ang ilahang paghimo sa beads, sa panahon sa Kaamulan Festival, nag himo sila ug beads, mga borloloy sa mga IPs (some of us still do beads work, especially during Kaamulan Festival, we make Indigenous Peoples inspired necklaces and accessories for sale)”

Evelyn constantly reminds all the members of their SLP association to rollback the funds since this is bounded by a memorandum of agreement with DSWD and that other beneficiaries may also enjoy the same benefits as they have.

The second batch of association’s beneficiaries has now ventured into fish farming; members now include the Indigenous People’s of Pigtauranan, even the tribe elders are now involved in the venture. Mainly, the association is cultivating Tilapia within Lake Napalit in Pigtauranan, Pangantucan, Bukidnon.

She said “ang pirmero namong harvest sa fish cage ni halin kini’g P11,000.00 sa isa ka cage lang. Kana nga kwarta amo gyud na gi deposito, amo na gi-tigom kay gusto namo nga humanon jud pag harvest kay upat man ka cage. Mahuman ang isa ka cage ayha dayon namo totalon ug pila among i-rollback pod sa bangko ug pila pod amo ihatag nga share sa mga membro, para ma encourage pod sila nga mapadayon ang grupo (our first harvest profited P11,000 for one cage alone. We deposited the earnings and saved it since we want to harvest the other three cages before we compute for our rollback to our bank account and how much dividends each member will receive).

The Department of Agriculture has already signified the replenishment of fish fingerlings for the group.

As a way of giving back to the community, Evelyn has chaired the DSWD Kalahi-CIDSS Barangay Sub-Project Management Committee since 2015 where the community has completed a Bottom-Up Budgeting project of a Day Care Center, a Kalahi-CIDSS NCDDP funded 1 Unit – Two Classroom school building, a barangay access road and the upcoming solar-powered lighting system for the barangay.

Evelyn mused “kining mga proyekto nga gihatag sa DSWD, amo gyud kining gina-ampingan, naa na’y dugang classrooms para sa among mga kabataan, aduna napud kami panginabuhian, ug uban pa (we are really taking good care of these projects provided for us by DSWD, we now have additional classrooms for our learners, we also have livelihood assistance, among others).”

“Lahi ra gyud kung ang komunidad ang magdumala sa mga proyekto, ga-ampingan, aduna gyud maayo nga implementasyon, nanghinaot usab ako nga ang programa sa DSWD Kalahi-CIDSS mapadayon pa gyud ug mabaload kini (it really makes a big difference when the community manages the projects, we really take care of these, there is good implementation, I also wish that the DSWD Kalahi-CIDSS program would continue and be institutionalized), Evelyn concludes.”

Evelyn is also an instructional manager for the Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System in their barangay and hopes that her community can continue working together for the improvement of the level of wellbeing of each family in Pigtauranan and Pangantucan as well.

Written by: Shaun Alejandrae Y Uy, SMO III

Marawi City — 10,703 families who have been affected by the 2017 Marawi Siege were reported to have received the Transitory Family Support Package (TFSP), Livelihood Settlement Grant (LSG) and Pabaon Package from the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 10.

The DSWD’s Report as of May 10, 2019 shows that these families who live in the Most Affected Areas (MAA) in Marawi City were given TSFP amounting to P53,000 and LSG with the amount of P20,000 in cash, and Pabaon Package.

24 barangays were targeted by the DSWD to receive the three types of assistance in order for the families to finally be able to start anew after the tragedy in 2017 which have affected thousands of families.

According to Mari-Flor A. Dollaga-Libang, Regional Director of DSWD 10, the TFSP is the DSWD’s way of providing the Marawi Siege survivors with their needs on food, shelter, clothes, and school supplies and toys for their children, including other needs of the family such as for hygiene and sleeping.

The Livelihood Settlement Grant, she says, is also for the families’ capital to start their own livelihood and small scale businesses to propel them to start earning income again.

Moreover, the Pabaon package, Director Dollaga-Libang states, is also given in the form of a box full of canned goods and cooking ingredients, especially prepared for the family-beneficiaries.

The DSWD has prepared a line of schedules for the payout per barangay in Marawi City. The payout is also done through a verification process using the Kathanor, a system that generates a database of names of qualified families. The said system was created by the Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM)– the assigned team of government agencies, local government offices, and barangay captains, that manages the various government interventions for our the Marawi Siege survivors.

As of this writing, the TFBM is continuously conducting the biometric profiling through the Kathanor for the internally displaced persons in Marawi City, especially those in the grievance list in both MAA and Least Affected Areas (LAA). TFBM targets to finalize the profiling by end of May 2019.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) community volunteers of Barangay Claro M. Recto, Maigo, Lanao del Norte are well underway with their Concreting of 0.160 kilometer Barangay Access Road community sub-project. The volunteers ensure their community that the construction materials delivered to them are in accordance to industry standards in construction. Here are photos of the community volunteers in Maigo as they inspect the delivered materials.

DSWD Kalahi-CIDSS ensures that communities are actively involved in the process from start to end. Not only are they given direct access and control of the funds for their community projects, they also have the opportunity to participate in making key development decisions for their communities.

In the Philippines, the Community-Driven Development (CDD) approach is implemented through the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services – National Community-Driven Development Program (Kalahi-CIDSS NCDDP) under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The DSWD Kalahi-CIDSS and its community volunteers are advocating for Community-Driven Development (CDD) institutionalization in the local governments for the continuation and sustainability of its gains and empowered communities.