The Department of
Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said that it has already begun to
act on the instructions of President Rodrigo Duterte to provide its counterpart
assistance to the families of some 95 soldiers who were wounded in action (WIA)
and four soldiers who were killed in action (KIA).
Malacanang has
instructed the DSWD along with the Department of Health (DOH) and the
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to provide assistance to
the families and widows of the soldiers K/WIA.
Undersecretary
for Institutional Development Group (IDG) and presidential appointee Mae Fe
Ancheta-Templa said that the DSWD’s Protective Services Fund Management Office
led by Director Pacita Sarino has already forwarded the list of the K/WIA
soldiers, including information on their dependents to the DSWD-Field Offices
where the soldiers’ families live. The status of the families will be subjected
to assessment and eligibility for the various programs of the DSWD, not
necessarily only the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
“We have an
existing system to deliver the most apt and suitable services for the
dependents of the K/WIA soldiers, and this system is implemented through the
swift coordination between the DSWD Central Office and Field Offices.
DSWD-FO social workers in the regions where the soldiers’ dependents live
will conduct home visits to determine their needs and assess what
services and interventions can be provided to them. At the onset, the
assistance that we can immediately provide are educational, livelihood, and
employment opportunities through skills training for the dependents. If the
soldiers have senior citizen parents, we can enroll them in the Social Pension
for Indigent Senior Citizens,” said USec Ancheta-Templa.
She also said
that four of the soldiers have already been assessed as 4Ps members, and their
families will receive one sack of rice per month.
Usec.
Ancheta-Templa said that the DSWD will provide Malacanang through the
Presidential Management Staff (PMS) updates on the status of the assistance the
DSWD and its Field Offices will provide the dependents of the KIA/WIA soldiers.
In the meantime,
Usec. Ancheta-Templa expressed the department’s support for the ongoing peace
negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP)
and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)).
She said that the
Duterte administration’s efforts to forge peace with the NDFP should be
supported because it will, inevitably, go a long way towards helping the Philippines
On September
1, DSWD officials will give the department’s report on the case management
efforts done by the DSWD- Field Offices for the dependents of the K/WIA
soldiers. (DSWD)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.