Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)  Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo today said that the Department continues to provide assistance to the families of personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) who have been wounded and killed in action.

“We continue to act on the instructions of President Rodrigo Duterte to help the wounded soldiers and to give whatever assistance the DSWD can to their families,” she said.

The support of the DSWD is in addition to the support of the Office of the President, the AFP and the PNP to the wounded.

DSWD-Field Office XII has submitted a progress report on the interventions they have provided to the families of AFP/PNP personnel wounded in action. Social workers also provided the family members with counselling and put together case reports on each family.

Last month, the FO has addressed the needs of three soldiers and their respective families.

PFC Chris Joh Figueroa from Sultan Kudarat was wounded on July 16, 2016 in an operation against a group alleged to be selling drugs in Midsayap, North Cotabato. He was taken to Camp Siongco Clinic and Hospital in Awang, Cotabato City.  He is married but he and his wife are childless.

The DSWD-FO provided counselling to the family and referred their case to the Municipal Social Welfare Officer of Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat. The family is set to be provided with financial assistance of P15,000 as support for their plan  to establish a small hog raising business in their community. Figueroa’s parents are farmers.

CPL Alvin Nicolas was wounded in battle against members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on August 26, 2016. He supports his mother Florentina who works as a laundry woman  earning only P2,500 a month. When Alvin was wounded, he was flown to Manila for confinement and treatment, but his family members were unable to visit him because they had no money for air fare. The FO is providing Florentina with P15,000 as financial assistance so she can see her son.

CPL Eric Jules Oriel was one of the soldiers wounded last July 19, 2016 in Compostela Valley. He was confined at Panacan District Hospital in Davao. He is married and he and his wife Jennelyn have two children. Jennelyn will be provided with financial assistance of P10,000 to augment the supplies of her sari-sari store. The two children, who are both, in grade school will be provided with educational assistance of P2,500.

“The different forms of assistance the DSWD-FO has given to the families of the wounded soldiers are not considerable, but these will at least help them in their income generating efforts. Our social workers visited each of the homes of the soldiers  and saw that they were all from poor economic backgrounds, and that they became soldiers primarily to have means to fight off poverty and so they can provide for their families. We explained to them the programs and services of the DSWD so they can, in the future, access more of them based on their needs and as soon as they can provide the requirements of the programs,” said Sec. Taguiwalo.

Finally, Sec. Taguiwalo reiterated that she  supports the ongoing peace negotiations of the GPH with various armed groups and shared the President’s wish that a just and lasting peace will be realized in the Philippines.###