Four months after being appointed as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Officer-in-Charge, Undersecretary Emmanuel A. Leyco today delivered a report on the   agency’s efforts particularly in the early recovery phase in Marawi and other programs of the department under study.

OIC-Leyco explained how the agency will adjust its programs and their guidelines to meet the needs of Marawi people. He then gave update on the suspension of the conditionalities of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in Marawi City. He said that the department may continue the family development sessions in Marawi, but attending them will not be a condition for the release of Pantawid Pamilya benefits to its members.

 “It is impractical to impose conditionalities considering the current situation of the people in Marawi,” OIC Leyco said.

Meanwhile, the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) of the Department is under assessment so Marawi residents eligible for membership in the program can start their projects anytime soon.

“Hindi tayo maghihintay na bumalik sila sa Marawi bago bigyan ng SLP. ‘Yung SLP livelihood of the evacuees can start wherever sila ma-assign na evacuation center. They can have a little economy na may producer and buyer,” he added.

Leyco said that a periodic report will be conducted by the department because of its commitment to Marawi—to give update on the relief operation and other programs of DSWD. The highlights of the DSWD’s accomplishments is particularly focused on Marawi from August 2017 to November 2017.

Updates on Pantawid Pamilya

For the DSWD initiative, the agency can now maintain its stand to recognize Pantawid Pamilya as a temporary intervention. The program has been in implementation for the last 10 years, but the Department under OIC Leyco as was the case under former Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo considers the program as a temporary, stop-gap measure in aid of efforts to fight poverty, not the solution to the same.

The DSWD maintains that it will continue to determine the length of social mobility of the poor and how they are able to make ends meet.

The department has done an impact assessments in 2012 and 2014 with common findings – Pantawid Pamilya households are better off having the means to secure an education for their children.

Among household members, Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries get a higher percentage of those searching for jobs compared to non-beneficiaries.

“Dependence on Pantawid has already been disproven. Pantawid benefits are not enough for families to depend on,” OIC Leyco added.

Being asked whether Pantawid Pamilya is a dole-out scheme is common. If the Pantawid benefits which is composed of P2600 monthly comprises only 11 to 14 percent of the total household income requirement of most poor families, then they are far from being enough.

 “Let us make a comparison of the employment participation rates between the beginning of the Pantawid and now 10 years after it was first implemented. Did employment opportunities increase? We assume they did not. If we have a new message here, it is this: we are continuing our economic interventions because the situation faced by the poor –specifically Pantawid members —  has not substantially changed, despite the growth rate in the last decades which is seven percent or more than six percent,” OIC Leyco explained.

“The poverty situation is the usual no-job, no-capital situation. But that is not our primary problem —  joblessness of the poor is affected by economic activities, especially in the province, where the available economic opportunities are considered as marginal.

“In the provinces, people focus on agricultural economic activities which are very limited – planting and selling minor commodities. If one is a farmer who has no land, one will only farm the land of others. If unforeseen circumstances happen like pest infection, etc, the risk of the economic activities will be shouldered by the farmer, 100 percent. Economic risks are not shared.”

 “The challenge for us here is how to alleviate the poverty of those who live on very weak economic foundations. We must find ways to strengthen their capabilities of coping with poverty and eventually overcoming it. Helping the poor overcome poverty is not just the job of the DSWD, but of the whole government, ” said OIC Leyco.