PART I: RESPONDING TO THE BASIC NEEDS

     Chapter 7. Social Welfare

I. Summary

 

   Continuing efforts to improve the lives of the disadvantaged, to empower the communities, to protect and promote the rights and welfare of the poor, and to reduce poverty were the focus of the government’s social welfare and development programs.

 

   The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), an innovative development approach in promoting investment in human capital among the poor, highlighted the pro-poor programs implemented during the year along with the regular programs and projects.  Relief operations and rehabilitation with focus on providing support to local government units in areas that experienced disasters and interventions to individuals and families in crisis situation were conducted.

 

   Services to community and center based clients consisting of women, children, senior citizens, persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples (IPs) were also provided.

II. Assessment 

 Assistance to Vulnerable Groups

   Services and interventions were provided to center and community-based clients and interventions to individuals, children, youth, women, persons with disabilities, senior citizens, indigenous peoples (IPs) and families in crisis situations. Some 182 individuals were served in different centers and institutions run by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) such as the Reception and Study Center for Children (96), Home for Girls (40), Home for Boys (26) and Haven for Women (20).

 

   The Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC) discharged 34 children, 19 were placed in inter-country adoption, 14 were reintegrated to family/relatives and 1 died of cardiac arrest. Most of the children at RSCC were neglected, voluntary committed and abandoned. 

 

   Of the 40 clients at the Home for Girls, 37 were sexually abused with 27 victims of incestuous rape. The Home for Boys served 20 children in conflict with the law, 7 were discharged and 5 were reintegrated to family/relative.   The Haven for Women had 20 clients who were victims of sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Some 10 clients were discharged and 7 reintegrated to family/relatives while the rest were provided with other forms of arrangement.

 

   Integrated social services were provided to 2,004 clients. This consisted of family heads and other needy adults (FHONA), women in especially difficult circumstances (WEDC), children in need of special protection (CNSP), persons with disabilities (PWDs), senior citizens and strandees and disaster victims.  The services provided were immediate psychosocial intervention, referrals and financial assistance.

 

   About 4,823 IPs were served medical/dental assistance and treatment through referrals and medical missions. Free legal assistance was provided to 41 IPs with ongoing cases involving ancestral domains and violation of constitutional and human rights.

 

   Services to community-based clients were extended to about 104,391 individuals including FHONA, children, youth, women in especially difficult circumstances, persons with disabilities and senior citizens regionwide. (Table 7.1)

 

   Of the 200 cases of children in need of special protection, major cases handled were neglected children (62), sexually-abused (54) and in conflict with the law (53).

 

   Emotionally disturbed women registered 98 cases or 83 percent of the total cases for women.

 

   With funds generated from the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT), the “Katas ng VAT: Tulong kay Lolo at Lola” Program provided a one-time P500 cash subsidy to 744 qualified senior citizens. The program was implemented by DSWD in coordination with local government units and Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA).

Table 7.1 Individuals Provided with Community-Based Services,

Bicol Region, CY 2008

                        Source:  DSWD 5

   About 84,723 families comprised of foster, adoptive and internally displaced families, solo parents, victims of disaster, and solo parents were provided with community-based services (Table 7.2). Relief goods and financial assistance were provided to families who were victims of disaster while core shelter support and food-for-work were extended to displaced families.

Table 7.2 Families Provided with Community-Based Services,

Bicol Region, CY 2008

   More than P500,000 augmentation support consisting of family packs, clothing, bedsheets, plastic mats and rice were provided to about 11,501 families from the eight municipalities of Camarines Norte  (Basud, Daet, Labo, Mercedes, Paracale, San Vicente, Talisay and Vinzons) who were affected by severe flooding.

  Programs and Projects

   The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) was formally launched in Masbate. A total of 23,939 families from Masbate province were identified to benefit from 4Ps. This covered the towns of Cawayan, Esperanza, San Pascual, Claveria, Balud, Placer, Monreal and Uson.  About 145 beneficiaries from barangays Lagui-Lagui, Mactan and Malbog of Cawayan, Masbate received the initial cash assistance.

 

   4Ps gives cash grants to extremely poor households with 0-14 year old children to improve their health, nutrition and education. It is covered by    requirements such as sending children regularly to school and bringing them to health centers on a regular basis and providing pre and post-natal care and delivery by a skilled birth attendant to pregnant women.  

 

   The Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services: Kapangyarihan at Kaunlaran sa Barangay (KALAHI-CIDSS:KKB) funded about 94 community sub-projects amounting to P57.12 million. This included barangay health stations, classroom buildings, barangay roads and improvement of irrigation canals, seawalls, Level II water systems in 94 barangays in Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes and Sorsogon. The sub-projects were under the Phase 4 Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 program implementation.

 

   The 4^th Phase of Poder y Prosperidad de la Comunidad (PODER) started in June 2008 which covered Barangay Estancia and Bagumbayan in Malinao, Albay. Another component of the 4^th Phase was the Bicol Rehabilitation Project which covered the municipalities of Bacacay, Sto. Domingo, Malilipot and Tiwi and the cities of Legazpi and Tabaco.  These project areas were heavily damaged by typhoons Milenyo, Reming and Seniang in 2006.  Under the current phase, 55 sub-projects were identified and funded with a total cost of P72.3 million.  As of December 31, four sub-projects were completed and six are ongoing while 45 are due to start in January 2009.

 

   PODER is a special poverty alleviation project patterned after KALAHI-CIDSS but operates on a smaller scale. It is implemented through the partnership between the DSWD and the Agencia Espanol Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarollo (AECID). 

 

   The National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) Educational Assistance Program (EAP) served 650 IP scholars in elementary (453), high school (141) and college (56). The program provided financial and school supplies assistance to students.  Non-formal Education/Alternative Learning System were likewise conducted in far-flung IP communities in partnership with the DepEd, DSWD and NGOs.  Ongoing tie-up programs on education included scholarship grants such as Selected Ethnic Groups Educational Assistance Program (SEGEAP) administered by the CHED and Sulong-Dunong Program of LGU-Camarines Sur and TESDA.

 

   The NCIP facilitated the constitution of IP Consultative Bodies (IPCB) in Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur and Sorsogon. This would empower IP communities through discussion of issues affecting the IPs, recommendation of programs/projects/activities, monitoring of implementation of policies, program and projects, and assistance in managing and resolving conflicts.

 

   The Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan (ADSDPP) in Tiwi, Albay and Buhi, Camarines Sur was also formulated.  The ADSDPP embodies the goals and objectives, policies and strategies of the indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) and IPs for the sustainable management and development of their ancestral domain and all resources. This includes the human and cultural resources such as their Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSPs).

 

Under the Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K), 346 SEA-K Level 1 Associations (SKAs) were organized benefiting 14,155 association members.    Capital seed fund amounting to P71.424 million was released to the SKAs through a loan from the Bicol Calamity Assistance Rehabilitation Efforts (B-CARE) fund. SEAK is a capability building program designed to enhance socio-economic skills of poor families to establish and self-manage a sustainable community-based micro-credit organization for entrepreneurial development.

 

The Tindahan Natin (TN) Project established 346 TN outlets with about 87,030 families benefited wherein good quality rice were subsidized and made available. 

 

   Alternative livelihood projects were also provided for IPs such as animal dispersal, handicraft trainings, vegetable production, provision of seed capital, farm and fishing implement and small infrastructure projects. 

III. Prospects and Trends for 2009 

   As 2009 develops into a year of tough economic challenges, the thrust and priorities on social protection and poverty alleviation are geared toward the following: 

 

• Expansion of area coverage of 4Ps in the provinces of Albay and Sorsogon

• Preparation for the implementation of the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTSPR). For Bicol, it will cover Masbate and Sorsogon. This effort is in coordination with the National Statistics Office (NSO), National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), and experts as advisory group. Its main objective is to identify the poorest of the poor in the country