DSWD team with Sec. Taguiwalo (partly hidden in red jacket at the end of the line) and Assistant Secretary Aleli Bawagan (2nd in line) walk on the completed stretch of the boat garage.

A boat garage constructed through the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will soon benefit the residents of Guiuan, Eastern Samar, a coastal town  ravaged by Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

The project, worth around P26M, is being constructed as part of the rehabilitation and recovery program for the municipality after the massive destruction left by ‘Yolanda’.

DSWD Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo recently visited Guiuan to check on the progress of all the projects being implemented for ‘Yolanda’-survivors in the area.

Sec. Taguiwalo said, “The boat garage is meant to provide a safe and secure place for fisherfolk to dock  their boats. This is especially needed during typhoons.  Through the construction of the boat garage, we hope to help  the fisherfolk of Guiuan to become  economic drivers. We also hope that this project will open other investment opportunities in the town.”

Some income may also be generated by the local government through the boat garage by imposing minimal registration and docking fees.

Guiuan Mayor Christopher Sheen Gonzales expressed the town’s gratitude for the project which will benefit around 201 fisherfolk associations. The said project, once completed, is expected to be a big help to the local economy of Guian, as well as to nearby towns.

Aside from the boat garage project,  Sec. Taguiwalo also visited the Guiuan Rural Health Center (RHC) which was rebuilt through the Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) program.

Funded through DSWD Kalahi-CIDSS program, the RHC is under the management of the local government and is headed by a medical doctor.  The center has a delivery room, an anti-tuberculosis program, a laboratory, and a weekly well-baby clinic.  Free medical consultations and free medicine provisions are also being done in the RHC.

The re-construction of the center and its efficient operations show the fruits of a coordinated and sincere partnership between the DSWD and the local government.

Sec. Taguiwalo reiterated, “Laging mas mahusay ang resulta ng mga bagay na bunga ng kooperasyon at sama-samang pagkilos para sa pagbibigay ng maagap at may malasakit na serbisyo sa ating kababayan (Cooperation and united action will always yield better results towards the provision of efficient and compassionate service to our needy fellow Filipinos.”

SLP is a community-based capacity building program that increases the economic opportunities of the families through the different modalities that it offers such as skills training, seed capital fund, pre-employment assistance fund, and the cash for building livelihood assets. It is implemented through the Community-Driven Enterprise Development Approach which equips program participants to actively contribute to production and labor markets by looking at available resources and accessible markets.

KALAHI-CIDSS, on the other hand, is a social protection program of DSWD in combating poverty. It uses the community-driven development (CDD) strategy to empower ordinary citizens to actively and directly participate in local governance by identifying their own community needs, planning, implementing, and monitoring projects together to address local poverty issues. Some of the results of Kalahi-CIDSS include improved access of communities to basic services, increased community involvement, and positive impact in household wellbeing. ###