SPSI Caravan for Abra de Ilog, Mamburao, Paluan, Sta. Cruz cluster held in Occidental Mindoro Provincial Capitol.

MAMBURAO, OcciMin- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) MIMAROPA , in partnership with the Department of Health (DOH), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and  the provincial and local government units of Occidental Mindoro conducted three clusters of Social Protection Support Initiative (SPSI) caravan in the towns of Mamburao on February 15; San Jose on February 18; and Lubang on February 28, 2017.

SPSI is a convergence project of the  DSWD, DOH, and PhilHealth aims to help Listahanan-identified poor particularly the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries attain an improved level of well-being and their economic status.

The caravan activities  include motorcade, project orientation and participating agencies set-up booths catering  basic services.

A total of 805 Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries, local government officials, local health officers and local social welfare officers provincewide attended the said caravan.

SPSI Sub-projects

 The DSWD’s Sustaining Interventions in Poverty Alleviation and Governance (SIPAG) enhances the case management capacity of local social welfare and development offices through an enhanced social case management system using the information and communication technology. This Electronic Social Case Management System (e-SCMS) features data analysis capabilities, intervention planning and monitoring application, a platform for collaboration and supervision, and built-in referral system to facilitate improved delivery of coordinated social services at the local level.

Also, the DOH implements Watching Over Mothers and babies or WOMB projects that provides access and utilizes the child and nutrition services at the local level. WOMB features data management system to aid community health teams and Rural Health Units in enrolling expectant mothers and neonates.  Likewise it enhances the referral mechanism within the local health service delivery system by improving the linkage of local health units or any Basic Emergency Obstetrics and Neonatal Care facility to the next level care facility.

And the Sigurado at Garantisadong Insurance Pangkalusugan (SAGIP) PhilHealth anchored with the governments Universal Health Care. SAGIP aims to proactively register all Filipinos in the health care system, remind members to regularly pay their premium contribution, refer the delinquent payees to appropriate sponsorship, and measure the performance of attaining universal health insurance coverage overtime.

Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries join the motorcade kicking off the SPSI caravan.

“Through the coordinated implementation of SIPAG, WOMB and SIPAG through the SPSI, the country will now have a better way of ensuring that the poor and vulnerable are provided improved access to basic social protection services and the government’s social service delivery systems are at par with global standards,” said Julieta Flores SIPAG Regional Coordinator.

Prior the caravan, SIPAG also conducted case conferences attended by the partner agencies and local social welfare officers wherein 11 cases of partner-beneficiaries presented and given appropriate interventions.

SPSI project commenced its first year of pilot implementation in the six  municipalities Oriental Mindoro  province of Oriental Mindoro in 2011. To date, SPSI covers the whole Mindoro provinces. ###

Core shelter beneficiaries raise their land titles received from the Department of Agrarian Reform.

SABLAYAN, Occidental Mindoro-   With the convergence efforts of different government agencies, families who were devastated from Typhoon Jolina in 2009 received their new housing units under the DSWD’s modified Core Shelter Assistance Program (CSAP) last July 31, 2015.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) MiMaRoPa Assistant Regional Director for Operations, Floreceli Gunio and Sablayan Mayor Eduardo Gadiano led the turn-over of 58 housing units in Sitio Yapang, Barangay Batong-buhay and 339 units in Sitio Cigaras, Barangay Ilvita during the inauguration ceremony in the municipality.

Funding for the construction of the said houses was provided by the DSWD amounting to Php28 million pesos with Php12 million pesos counterpart from the local government unit with 600sqm lot granted to each family by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). The core shelter units worth Php70,000 each.

CSAP site in Barangay Ilvita, Sablayan is now occupied by 339 families.

Houses were built by beneficiaries’ own hands. “Ginagawa namin ang mga bahay namin, sumasahod pa kami dahil sa cash for work [program] ng DSWD,” said Ilvita Barangay Captain Noel Yasay.

Building of core shelters also serves as training ground for beneficiaries under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) course of masonry and carpentry, on which whoever passed the assessment get National Certificate II affirming their skills competency. Furthermore, the Philippine Army has volunteered in the construction.

On the other hand, the Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (OMECO) and National Electrification Administration (NEA) have allocated one-million peso-fund for the electrification of the two housing sites thru their Sitio Electrification Program. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) also established the Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig Para sa Lahat (SALINTUBIG) project with a mission to provide safe and sufficient water for the beneficiaries.

“Dito nakita namin ang pagkakaisa ng mga ahensya ng gobyerno para mabuo ang isang komunidad,” said beneficiary Jovita Espinosa. “At itong pangrap namin na magandang bahay, na natupad na, ay aming aalagaan at lalo pang pagagandahin,” she continued.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) shared Php400,000 to beneficiaries in Ilvita for employment and livelihood program under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers or TUPAD while seedlings are also given for farming by the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) has released Php2, 500,000 for the construction of Barangay Health Stations.

CSAP provides disaster resistant shelter units to families displaced by natural calamities that are unable to restore damaged houses. This is also intended to other families who are at high risk and vulnerable areas that need to be relocated.

DSWD reminds recipients of core houses not to sell nor rent it out within 15 years.###

Stakeholders attentively listen to presenters while noting down points for discussion thereafter.

Puerto Princesa City, Palawan – Five government agencies gathered in response to an initiative by the Department of       Social Welfare and Development IV- MIMAROPA to conduct a consultation dialogue with the Local Government Unit and Stakeholders of Puerto Princesa City in the implementation of Republic Act No. 9442 known as “Magna Carta for Persons With Disabilities”, last July 10, 2013.

The consultation dialogue was in favor of presenting the guidelines in implementation of the RA 9442. Delegates from the DSWD, Department of Health (DOH), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) took turns in presenting laws and programs to be implemented by their respective department.

The RA 9442 which benefits the welfare of persons with disabilities was an amendment of RA 7277. The Act highlights the 20 percent discount and other special privileges provided to PWDs at drugstores and establishments such as restaurants, theatres, cinemas, amusement parks etc.

A comprehensive discussion on specified orders in accordance with RA 9442 underlined the first half of the consultation dialogue. The rest of the day was solely dedicated to an open forum participated by attendees from various associations of PWDs and other concerned stakeholders.

One section of the Act that states the reduction in tax obligations of a person taking care of a PWD was put into question by Municipality Budget Officer of Quezon, Palawan, Mr. Eddie Luneta. He proposed that the same regulation should apply for employed PWD. Luneta further implied how having to take care of a person with disability and having the disability yourself bear no difference in the degree of burden therefore concluding the specific regulation should apply to an employed PWD himself.  This concern was quickly addressed by Ms. Geneliza Gabilan, DSWD IV-MIMAROPA’s focal person for PWDs, validating the 25% tax reduction on the gross salary total of an employed PWD.

As the forum progressed, one beneficiary complained of some drugstores’ refusal to provide a 20% discount on purchase. Gabilan explained that a beneficiary should first be legitimately registered as a PWD. That means undergoing the process of acquiring an ID needed to present to any drugstores and/or establishments that a PWD has benefit from. The process includes obtaining a medical report from a government hospital to identify the kind of disability a person has. The medical report will then be used to check if the type of disability a person has, qualifies for the kind of protection RA 9442 gives.

The session concluded with a few concerns left to be confirmed. That includes the 1% of the total municipal budget that is supposedly allocated to development programs for PWDs and Senior Citizens. Also, a few clarifications are yet to be discussed in reference to the percentage of tax reduction of an employed person who has a PWD for a beneficiary.  These concerns will be looked into by the concerned government agencies and a promise of a timely response has been set.