Clean The House Before Doing Any Action
By Ernesto T. Solidum
By Ernesto T. Solidum
The 1st Social Work Week celebration (June 13 – 19) in Aklan opened with a motorcade jammed by municipal delegations of Social Workers. They serenely rolled the streets of Kalibo up to the Capitol grounds, Estancia, Kalibo. Streamers emblazoned the theme: “From Act of Charity to Ra 4373: The Nobility of the Social Work Profession”. RA 4373 is the Social Work Law. It came of age and ready to face challenges ahead.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is the lead agency tasked to implement social welfare programs, formulate development policies, provide support services and technical assistance to poor/disadvantaged groups. Basically, the DSWD has re – invented itself from seemingly innocuous acts of charity to tasks that change people’s lives and their future. It has successfully galvanized meager government resources meanwhile tapping private funds to act on natural (typhoons, floods, fires, earthquakes) and man-made (internal refugees) calamities.
Altruistic motives define the nobility of social work. The agency is deep into mobilizing and empowering depressed communities to identify their needs and find solutions. Thus, the pooling of resources and closed supervision, rural folks are able to build projects with dispatch and at least cost. This partnership is essential to skills acquisition and values formation.
In his speech, Governor Carlito S. Marquez said that “Social Workers are truly the peoples’ servant and closest to them because they respond to distress calls from the disadvantaged and the indigents.”
Its 2003 annual report listed the some important accomplishments:
Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services: Kapangyarihan at Kaunlaran sa Barangay (Kalahi – CIDSS: KKB). This is a major poverty alleviation project where people actively participate in the analysis of their situation and identify projects that will improve their lives. The community – based program has resulted in completion of farm to market roads, water systems, health centers, schools and electrification. After a year, this has reached out to 1, 505 barangays with 377,755 households.
In Aklan, CIDSS funding from national government in 2004 was P.5 M. Counterpart of the province was P1.5 M benefiting 700 beneficiaries in 17 municipalities.
Another success program is Self Employment Assistance – Kaunlaran (SEA – K). This is a capability building program for peoples’ organizations to self administer a socialized credit scheme. Components include social preparation, capital assistance, savings mobilization and access to other social services. In Aklan, funding for 23 SEA – K organizations reached P3.15 M. for year 2005. Level I is intended to provide seed money (P5,000/beneficiary, interest – free) for income generating projects while Level II is to achieve higher capability entrepreneurial skills.
Early Childhood Development Project (ECD) is designed to enhance the quality and coverage of essential health, nutrition, psychological development and early education services for disadvantaged children aged 0 – 6 years old. It enhances and supplements the LGU’s resources to meet the needs of these children. ECD project covers 1,522 barangays in 132 municipalities and cities. Benefited were 3,226,957 children nationwide.
Following the devolution of DSWD to LGU in 1994, LGU’s are mandated to assume and deliver social welfare services to their clienteles who find themselves in crisis situations. Intervention programs include Disaster Response Augmentation, Crisis Intervention Units, Community – Based Protective and Rehabilitation Services and Center – Based Services.
In the area of legislation, pet bills enacted into law are the Anti Trafficking of Human Persons Act (RA 9208) and Anti Child Labor Law (RA 9231). Credo of DSWD is to promote the rights of every individual, work for a society of equals and build and maximize peoples’ potentials.
Above aspiration is best gauged against present realities that according to recent Social Weather Survey (SWS), 82 percent of our people feel that they live below the poverty line. Unemployment in April 2005 reached unprecedented level of 12.9 percent from 11.3 percent in January. Overall joblessness is 3 million (ANC June 16, 2005) excluding the underemployed.
This shows that bad news do not necessarily come from the opposition as believed.
While industrialized nations are alarmed with just 5 percent unemployment, Filipinos like scared ostriches tend to bury their heads in the sand. Beneath the cold, tranquil environment however is a restive population that demands from the government concrete action rather than empty rhetoric. DSWD is headed by an able administrator Corazon Juliano Soliman but needs more prayer than luck. Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo who once steered the agency during the Estrada Administration must resolve the real crisis of poverty and unemployment on her agenda. Nonetheless, corruption by which we rank second in Asia must be dealt with an iron fist. This economic and political turmoil is most unfortunate at a time when the President has the full support and confidence of the military, clergy, business and academe. At best, there must be thorough cleaning of the house before going into serious action. But for how long? mailto:madyaas_pen@yahoo.com
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is the lead agency tasked to implement social welfare programs, formulate development policies, provide support services and technical assistance to poor/disadvantaged groups. Basically, the DSWD has re – invented itself from seemingly innocuous acts of charity to tasks that change people’s lives and their future. It has successfully galvanized meager government resources meanwhile tapping private funds to act on natural (typhoons, floods, fires, earthquakes) and man-made (internal refugees) calamities.
Altruistic motives define the nobility of social work. The agency is deep into mobilizing and empowering depressed communities to identify their needs and find solutions. Thus, the pooling of resources and closed supervision, rural folks are able to build projects with dispatch and at least cost. This partnership is essential to skills acquisition and values formation.
In his speech, Governor Carlito S. Marquez said that “Social Workers are truly the peoples’ servant and closest to them because they respond to distress calls from the disadvantaged and the indigents.”
Its 2003 annual report listed the some important accomplishments:
Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services: Kapangyarihan at Kaunlaran sa Barangay (Kalahi – CIDSS: KKB). This is a major poverty alleviation project where people actively participate in the analysis of their situation and identify projects that will improve their lives. The community – based program has resulted in completion of farm to market roads, water systems, health centers, schools and electrification. After a year, this has reached out to 1, 505 barangays with 377,755 households.
In Aklan, CIDSS funding from national government in 2004 was P.5 M. Counterpart of the province was P1.5 M benefiting 700 beneficiaries in 17 municipalities.
Another success program is Self Employment Assistance – Kaunlaran (SEA – K). This is a capability building program for peoples’ organizations to self administer a socialized credit scheme. Components include social preparation, capital assistance, savings mobilization and access to other social services. In Aklan, funding for 23 SEA – K organizations reached P3.15 M. for year 2005. Level I is intended to provide seed money (P5,000/beneficiary, interest – free) for income generating projects while Level II is to achieve higher capability entrepreneurial skills.
Early Childhood Development Project (ECD) is designed to enhance the quality and coverage of essential health, nutrition, psychological development and early education services for disadvantaged children aged 0 – 6 years old. It enhances and supplements the LGU’s resources to meet the needs of these children. ECD project covers 1,522 barangays in 132 municipalities and cities. Benefited were 3,226,957 children nationwide.
Following the devolution of DSWD to LGU in 1994, LGU’s are mandated to assume and deliver social welfare services to their clienteles who find themselves in crisis situations. Intervention programs include Disaster Response Augmentation, Crisis Intervention Units, Community – Based Protective and Rehabilitation Services and Center – Based Services.
In the area of legislation, pet bills enacted into law are the Anti Trafficking of Human Persons Act (RA 9208) and Anti Child Labor Law (RA 9231). Credo of DSWD is to promote the rights of every individual, work for a society of equals and build and maximize peoples’ potentials.
Above aspiration is best gauged against present realities that according to recent Social Weather Survey (SWS), 82 percent of our people feel that they live below the poverty line. Unemployment in April 2005 reached unprecedented level of 12.9 percent from 11.3 percent in January. Overall joblessness is 3 million (ANC June 16, 2005) excluding the underemployed.
This shows that bad news do not necessarily come from the opposition as believed.
While industrialized nations are alarmed with just 5 percent unemployment, Filipinos like scared ostriches tend to bury their heads in the sand. Beneath the cold, tranquil environment however is a restive population that demands from the government concrete action rather than empty rhetoric. DSWD is headed by an able administrator Corazon Juliano Soliman but needs more prayer than luck. Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo who once steered the agency during the Estrada Administration must resolve the real crisis of poverty and unemployment on her agenda. Nonetheless, corruption by which we rank second in Asia must be dealt with an iron fist. This economic and political turmoil is most unfortunate at a time when the President has the full support and confidence of the military, clergy, business and academe. At best, there must be thorough cleaning of the house before going into serious action. But for how long? mailto:madyaas_pen@yahoo.com
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