In the Regional Management Development Conference called by the department’s new Field Office IX Regional Director, Atty. Araceli F. Solamillo on Feruary 3-4, it was emphasized that the department mandates its workforce to be the leader builder as presented by the agency’s executive committee members during the national conference.

This initiative forms part of the effort to empower its partner Local Government Units through devolving duties in the delivery of basic social services based on the agency’s corporate plan for the year.

This further explains that DSWD’s role shall shift from leading the implementation of programs and services to building up partners who shall eventually become independent and dependable implementers of social protection programs themselves.

The agency recognizes this way of thinking as a huge contribution in ensuring that they are on the right path towards attaining our long term directions which is to become the world’s standard for the delivery of coordinated social services by year 2040.

Specifically, part of this effort is to functionalize its social welfare counterparts across the region through providing various technical assistance and conducting capacity building activities. This will better enable development workers, especially in rural areas, to efficiently deliver government programs and services to the poor and disadvantaged Filipinos.

Alongside with ensuring efficient and effective implementation of social protection programs, is the result of the second round of household assessment wherein initially there are 393,320 identified poor in the region out of the 687,429 number of households that have been subjected to assessment. The number of the identified poor may still change after the completion of the validation activity.

DSWD through its Household Targeting System which is Listahanan is set to launch the updated database of poor in the first quarter of the year.

Aside from the household assessment, the DSWD also administered a separate assessment of the Pantawid beneficiaries to determine their current level of well-being after benefitting not only from Pantawid but to include the other core poverty reduction programs like Kalahi-CIDSS and Sustainable Livelihood Program.

The result generated from the assessment will help the department in planning out interventions that will particularly address the identified gaps in those beneficiaries that have not moved from the survival level.

In anticipation of change of leadership this year, DSWD hopes to continuously build and develop sustainable and resilient communities and as well as responsive counterparts with enhanced capacity and capability to adapt and respond to social and economic vulnerabilities, disasters, climate change as well as emerging threats, and challenges in the society.###