“It is important that we do not just give them services which help them get by daily. Our goal  is to capacitate them build better lives for themselves and become productive citizens of society.”

In a bid to provide a more responsive and comprehensive service, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is hosting the first ever Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) Summit today, November 11, at Hotel Rembrandt, Quezon City.

The DSWD-activity is in coordination with the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), the National Council for Disability Affairs (NCDA), and various groups under the disability sector coming from all over the country..

Among those who will attend the event are Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, Secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority Ernesto Pernia, Executive Director Carmen Reyes-Zubiaga of the NCDA;  and officials of the DSWD.

The input and results of the discussions will be collated and synthesized, and eventually submitted as part of the DSWD’s body of recommendations for the Philippine Development Plan for 2018-2022. Ceremonial Turnover of Persons with Disabilities Agenda will be led by DSWD Secretary Judy M.  Taguiwalo and Cabinet Sec. Evasco.

The summit will be participated in by more than 350 PWDs nationwide who will work together to develop an agenda of programs and services to be proposed to the government.

Sec. Taguiwalo said that the sector of PWDs is one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged sectors in the country.

“The Department has programs and services which are available to them, but PWDs must also be given the opportunity to voice out what they think can help them best.”

“Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s agenda of change gives priority to efforts to protect and uphold the welfare of the poor. We want to ensure that in the creation of the government’s development program,  the calls and demands of the most vulnerable sectors of Philippine society are not neglected.  Theirs are the demands that the government should listen to; the reforms they want should be given emphasis and given importance and full consideration,” she said.

As the lead agency in social protection, DSWD implements various community and center-based programs and services which are available to PWDs.

In 2015 alone, DSWD has served more than 21,500 PWDs through the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations, scholarship grants, auxiliary social services, cash for work, supplementary feeding, core programs, and center -based interventions.

Of the total served last year, 11,269 PWDs were served through community- based social protection services which amounted to P16,737,085.  These included emergency assistance, PhilHealth sponsorship, disaster relief assistance, auxiliary social services, scholarship, and the provision of assistive devices, among others.

Around 57 children with disabilities were served through the regular Supplementary Feeding (SF) program which amounted to P150,000.

Some 7,829 PWDs benefited from the Department’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and the Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT) program.

Moreover, 645 PWDs were provided capital assistance while 101 PWDs benefited from the employment facilitation scheme under the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).

The Department also manages the Elsie Gaches Village, a residential- based facility that provides care and rehabilitation to abandoned and neglected children with special needs such as those with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, visual and hearing impairment, mental retardation, autism and other related illnesses.

In addition to the center and community -based services, the Department also provides capacity building activities to Local Government Units, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), People’s Organizations and other stakeholders.  Through capacitating these stakeholders, the DSWD aims to replicate its mandate and increase the number of institutions that are able to respond to the special concerns of the PWDs.

For 2016, the services and programs are continuously available to the PWD sectors.

As of September 2016, some 1,353 were served through DSWD’s Crisis Intervention Unit.

The Department has also allocated a total of P11,801,000 in various regional offices, as well as in the Central Office,  intended for various intervention to PWDs. However, as of end of September 2016, the amount of P8,142,389.79  remains unexpended and unobligated.

Sec. Taguiwalo said, “It is important that we identify the gaps in the provision of social protection services from the perspective of the PWDs themselves.  As part of our genuine ‘malasakit at tunay na serbisyo (compassion and genuine public service),’ we, in government, must come up with a comprehensive program which will answer to the overall need in development of this vulnerable sector.  Stop gap measures or crisis assistance must just be part of the response.”

She added, “It is important that we do not just give them services which help them get by daily.  Our goal is to capacitate them build  better lives for themselves and become productive citizens of society.” ###