Above photo shows the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Undersecretary Mae Fe Ancheta-Templa explaining the objectives of the Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Pre-Accreditation express review. Mr. James Bulan (left), representative of the Kaunlaran ng Manggawang Pilipino, Inc., presents their accreditation application and documentary requirements for an express review of a DSWD technical staff.

In a bid to make the accreditation process and policies accessible and more understandable to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) recently held a CSO-Pre Accreditation Express Review for 15 interested organizations.

The express review is the first activity conducted which explained in detail the CSO accreditation process, followed by a review of documentary requirements that were presented by applicants.

DSWD Undersecretary Mae Fe Ancheta-Templa spearheaded the activity and welcomed the participants.

In her message, she emphasized that the accreditation process may seem tedious because of the documentary requirements, but they are necessary.

Back in 2013, alleged wide scale misuse of public funds by legitimately registered Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), were used as “dummies” by corrupt government officials.

This led to the government’s decision to declare the DSWD as the only government agency to accredit CSOs to be eligible to receive public funds as implementing entities of government programs and projects (PAPS). In ensuring that government programs are properly and efficiently carried out together with partner CSOs,  and funds are properly guarded against misuse, COA, DBM, and DSWD came up with a guideline for accreditation of civil society groups.

Understanding the difficulty that a new process of accreditation entails, on Sept. 26, 2016 at the DSWD Central Office, a CSO Pre- Accreditation Express Review was held to further clarify the process for CSOs interested to be accredited as a beneficiary or as an implementing CSO. This was attended by 120 individuals coming from 80 CSOs.

“As of now, we need to ensure that we come up with a process that will make accreditation for our civil society organizations simpler without sacrificing the integrity of the process,” said Usec.  Ancheta-Templa.

She added that the DSWD Memorandum Circular on the “Implementing Procedures for the Accreditation of CSOs as Implementing Entities of Government or Public Funds” was put in place as a result of the Napoles scam in the use of government funds.

However, Usec. Templa stressed that the instruction of the President is to review the guidelines in order to ensure that it is free from red tape.

Further, the Undersecretary said that the express review’s objective is also to get the views of the CSOs so that the process can be simplified.

“Buuin natin ang pinakasimpleng proseso, sa pamamagitan nitong express review para makatulong sa paglilinaw ng proseso (Together, we can come up with a simplified process through this express review which aims to help clarify the accreditation process),” she said.

Director Marites Maristela of the DSWD Standards Bureau (SB) emphasized that the accreditation process takes around 21 working days to complete as per the guidelines if all documentary requirements are in place.

Vie C. Reyes of the Philippine Coffee Alliance said she appreciated the express review which helped her get updates on the latest forms and templates.

She shared that she is actually just renewing their accreditation which has already lapsed.

“Noon kasing nagpa-accredit kami last year, hindi naman namin nagamit kasi hindi naman in-accept ng Department of Agriculture (DA) yung accreditation namin.  Kaya medyo hindi muna kami nagpa-accredit ulit.  Pero ngayon hopeful kami na magbabago kaya nagpaparenew ulit kami (When we previously got our certificate of accreditation last year, we were not able to use it as the Department of Agriculture did not accept it.  But now, I am hopeful that things will change that is why I am filing for our renewal).”

Reyes added that although her documentary requirements did not pass during the express review, she found the activity helpful.

“Mas nalinawan ako at saka maganda nalaman ko na nag-change na ng template sa mga requirements kaya mababago ko din yung sa application ko (The process is now clearer for me and it is good that I was able to know that the templates have changed. I will now make the necessary changes to our application for accreditation),” she continued.

James Bulan, representative of the Kaunlaran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Inc., also expressed his appreciation for the activity, with the express review helping them expedite their application.  Through the activity, their documentary requirements had been initially assessed and need only the updating of templates prior to final submission.

DSWD Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo said the express review is part of the Department’s goal of making the accreditation process less tedious yet remains credible, especially as the CSOs are partners in development.

She said that innovative activities such as the express review is what comprises compassionate public service which DSWD is espousing. ###