DSWD welcomes President Marcos’s EO institutionalizing program on street dwellers

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has expressed gratitude to President Marcos for coming up with an executive order that aims to reach out to families, children and individuals in street situations and provide them with necessary interventions.

“We are pleased to be the lead agency of this program to ensure the effective delivery of services to disadvantaged and vulnerable individuals living on the streets,” DSWD Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez said of EO 52, which institutionalizes and expands the agency’s Oplan Pag-Abot.

“We also thank President Marcos for recognizing the significance of this initiative pioneered by DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian by institutionalizing it through EO No. 52,” Lopez added, on behalf of the DSWD chief.

EO 52 provides for the creation of an inter-agency committee for Oplan Pag-Abot, which aims to further enhance and unify the delivery of services to vulnerable and disadvantaged sectors in street situations through the provision of social safety nets.

“The DSWD is ready to undertake the necessary steps for the expansion and institutionalization of the reach-out operations for children, individuals and families who are staying and living on the streets,” Lopez said.

Under the EO, the DSWD secretary will chair the inter-agency committee while the Department of the Interior and Local Government will be the vice chair.

Members of the committee include the respective secretaries of the agriculture, labor, health, budget and education departments; director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority; chairperson of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor; president and chief executive officer of the Small Business Corp., and the administrator of the Cooperative Development Authority.

“With this EO, we are assured that the current efforts of the DSWD’s Pag-Abot Team are complemented with various services and assistance packages to be provided by the member and concerned agencies,” Lopez said.

Launched in July last year as a priority program of Gatchalian, Oplan Pag-Abot is being implemented in Metro Manila to reach out to people living and staying on the streets and provide them with the appropriate interventions, as well as opportunities to improve their social and economic status and fulfill their fundamental rights.