BUTUAN: The series of programs and projects being implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the Caraga Region (DWD-13) under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. are benefiting thousands of residents affected by high inflation and climate change.
DSWD’s new programs include the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP), which was launched on May 18; the Local Adaptation to Water Access and Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverished (the “LAWA at BINHI” project), which was also launched in the region last month; and the Walang Gutom 2027 program, opened last year on Siargao Island.
‘The Walang Gutom 2027 has five key features; one of them is optional as it has the corresponding obligation to the program beneficiary who is required to attend the various training conducted for them and to look for a job after they complete the training,’ DSWD-13 Director Mari-Flor Dollaga said during the regular Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas in Butuan City on T
uesday.
She added that the program aims to decrease the voluntary hunger experienced by low-income households by providing them with monetary assistance through benefit transfer cards.
Around 369 households from Dapa town in Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte, were identified as the program’s first beneficiaries during its launch last year, attended by Marcos.
This year, the Walang Gutom 2027 is set to scale up in Surigao del Norte province, targeting 1,376 household beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, the AKAP, launched last month, has assisted 3,697 minimum wage earners in the region, disbursing around PHP11,091,000 in cash assistance.
Other continuing programs
On the other hand, the LAWA at BINHI project, which has been allocated over PHP54 million this year, was launched last month in 25 municipalities in the region, targeting 7,330 beneficiaries.
‘The LAWA at BINHI project is implemented through cash-for-training and cash-for-work interventions to decrease communities’ economic vulnerabilities by addressing
food insecurity and water security during disasters brought by climate change,’ said Aldie May Andoy, the officer-in-charge of DSWD-13’s Disaster Response Management Division.
On June 7, she said two LAWA at BINHI projects had already been turned over in Barangays Mahayahay and La Union in Lingig, Surigao del Sur.
Continuing programs
Other programs and projects of the agency also continue to provide the needs of communities in the region, including the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), the Social Pension for the Indigent Senior Citizens, the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the Supplementary Feeding Program, and the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services or the KALAHI-CIDSS.
Under the AICS program, some PHP529.6 million in financial aid was disbursed to 106,167 beneficiaries from January to May this year, while 153,249 indigent senior citizens received their social pension in the firs
t semester of 2024.
Of the number of target beneficiaries for the AICS program, DSWD-13 served 94 percent of its target during the period and 82.9 percent of indigent senior citizens under the social pension program from January to June 2024.
Also, the 4Ps program has served 195,472 households during the first semester of 2024, or 99.9 percent of the agency’s target.
DSWD-13 also reported the completion of the 14th cycle of the Supplementary Feeding Program in the region, which benefited some 73,454 children.
During the first semester this year under the SLP program, 117 projects amounting to PHP44.6 million were completed, benefiting some 2,622 program participants.
The DSWD-13 also completed at least 5,571 projects under the KALAHI-CIDSS program since its implementation last year.
Source: Philippines News Agency
