Romblon provincial government officials received the copy of Listahanan database. (L-R) Evaluation Officer Cynthia Fetalino, Listahanan Coordinator Ernie Jarabejo, Governor Eduardo Firmalo, Executive Assistant Louie Firmalo, Provincial Social Welfare Officer Vilma Fos, and Listahanan Statistician Jennel Maquiñana.

ODIONGAN- Romblon Governor Eduardo Firmalo received the Listahanan list of identified poor households in this province from Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) MIMAROPA on Tuesday, July 10, 2018.

Romblon is the first recipient among the five provincial governments regionwide of the said Listahanan database.

Listahanan is a mechanism that identifies who and where the poor are. In Romblon, 20,777 poor households are identified as poor according to the 2015 household assessment.

The data sharing aims to establish a systematic way of sharing data and information of poor households as a basis for selecting potential beneficiaries of various local social protection programs.

 “Now that we have the database from the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction now Listahanan, we have the baseline data that can be used in our programs intended for the poor,” said Governor Firmalo.

The provincial government of Romblon has won the DSWD Gawad Listahanan in 2014 and 2015, an award that is given to local government units recognizing their efforts in the implementation of local social protection programs using Listahanan list of poor.

Listahanan result was used as a reference for the HEART program which focuses on Health, Education, Agriculture, Revenues, Resource Generation, Tourism and Transparency to combat the effects of poverty in the province of Romblon.

“Because of this [Listahanan] data, we are guided for our targets since 2011, and that’s a big accomplishment of the provincial government,” added Firmalo.

The governor also is hopeful for the positive results as the new list is of poor in the province is revealed so that proper interventions will be implemented to uplift their well-being.

Provincial Government of Romblon complied all provisions in the DSWD data sharing guidelines, a mechanism to safeguard the information of poor households. This in compliance with the Data Privacy Act that protects individual personal and personal sensitive information.###

DSWD MIMAROPA conducts validation of 100-year-old senior citizens who will qualify the centenarian gift.

MALATE, Manila- Thirty-six centenarians in MIMAROPA region already received Php100, 000.00 each from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) since April 2017.

DSWD record shows that four centenarians have received in Occidental Mindoro; 14 in Oriental Mindoro; six in Marinduque; three in Romblon; and nine in Palawan.

Under Republic Act 10868 or the Centenarians Acts of 2016, all Filipinos who live to 100 years, otherwise known as a centenarian, will receive a Letter of Felicitation from the President and a centenarian gift of P100,000 whether living in the Philippines or not.

To date, the Department has released a total of Php3.6 million.

“We are still in the validation process for another  31 centenarians regionwide to qualify for the said cash gift,” said Maricel dela Vega, senior citizen focal person.

Centenarians will also receive a plaque of recognition and a cash incentive from their respective cities or municipal governments, to be decided by their local government unit.

According to Listahanan– government’s mechanism to identify the poor, there are 22 senior citizens who have turned 100 years old this year, belonging to poor households.###

STA MARIA, Romblon- In coordination with the local government unit, 13 Person with Disability (PWD) beneficiaries in this town each received financial assistance amounting to Php6,000.00 from the social pension for PWD program of the Provincial Government of Romblon on Monday.

MALATE, Manila- According to the 2015 Listahanan database, there are 69,646 or 2.7 percent of the 2,573,992 total assessed individuals claimed as solo parents which comprises of 19,722 (28.3%) males and 49,924 (71.7%) females in MIMAROPA region.

Listahanan recorded 22,604 or 1.9% solo parents identified as poor.

Republic Act No. 8972 also known as the Solo Parents’ Welfare Act of 2000 defines solo parent as were left solo or alone with the responsibility of parenthood or any other person who solely provides parental care and support to a child or children.

There are 6,057 poor solo parents in Oriental Mindoro; 3,478 poor solo parents in Occidental Mindoro; 1,661 solo parents in Marinduque; 2,813 solo parents in Romblon; and 8,595 poor solo parents in Palawan.

The City of Puerto Princesa tops in the list with the highest number of solo parents regionwide with 1,700 followed by the municipality of San Jose in Mindoro with 1,036 solo parents. The town of Narra, Palawan placed in the third rank with 672 solo parents.

Moreover, the top barangays with the highest number of solo parents are barangay Panaytayan, Mansalay in Oriental Mindoro with 155 poor solo parents; barangay Bancalaan, Balabac in Palawan with 152 poor solo parents; and barangay Sicsican in Puerto Princesa City with 124 poor solo parents.

On the other hand, there are 13,636 poor solo parents declared as house hold heads and a total of 2,238 solo parents which have not completed any level of education.

 The database further revealed that  in terms of marital status  of poor solo parent, 9,755 (43.2%) are widowed, 6,000 (26.5%) are separated, and 4,296 (19%) are single. Also, most of the solo parents are in the age bracket of 35 to 44 years old.

Listahanan is a mechanism of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) that identifies who and where the poor are nationwide. From the  569,000 households assessed  regionwide, about  207,863 were identified as poor in MIMAROPA or Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan provinces.

Solo parent Benefits

Qualified solo parents may avail the parental leave; educational benefits from the Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education; livelihood training from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, as well as allocations in low cost housing projects and medical assistance.

DSWD has organized the MIMAROPA Solo Parents Employees Association to promote the welfare and rights of solo parent staff and their children. Also, the Department has allocated Php10,000.00 for livelihood assistance to qualified solo parent beneficiaries.

Nevertheless, DSWD calls to get solo parents ID valid for one year and is renewable, at the nearest social welfare and development office in their area to enjoy the said government benefits. ###

Staff during the procurement workshop.

MANILA CITY- To promote good governance, transparency, accountability, equity, efficiency, and economy in all government procurement processes, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)  MiMaRoPa conducted a one-day orientation-workshop on Republic Act 9184 known as the Government Procurement Act to staff as front liners and receivers of procurement transactions.

“The orientation-workshop aims to equip the staff of the basic knowledge about government procurement to help improve the turn-around time of all procurement transactions,” said Department Property and Supply Officer Imee Villanueva.

The orientation which was held in Bayview Hotel last July 29, Friday was attended by 62 staff both region and province-based staff  in Oriental and Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan.

This also complies the mandates of RA 9184 to continuously paves way for the improvement of the procurement process by enabling the staff to be aware and involved in the process.

“As a support staff, this procurement orientation helps to effectively perform my job for a quality and as scheduled delivery of  items or services,” said Listahanan staff Norman Sarmiento.

Similar orientation-workshop will be an annual activity as part of the skills enhancement of the Department.###

MALATE, Manila- The Department of Social Welfare and Development MiMaRoPa joins in the celebration of the National Disaster Consciousness Month with the theme, “Kahandaan at Pagtugon sa Sakuna, Tungkulin ng Bawat Isa.”

“In observance of the celebration, DSWD will have the two-day basic life support training for internal staff in partnership with the Philippine Red Cross,” said Disaster Operation Focal Person Sheila Tapia.

The training aims to equip DSWD staff with knowledge, skills and confidence to provide care to victims of disaster such as the proper application of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Aside from the training, the Department has scheduled reorientation on the guidelines of Regional Quick Response Team (QRT) for disaster preparedness and management, Tapia added.

QRT is one of the disaster management components that enhances the coordination and reporting of disaster related-responses internally. It is constituted of DSWD regional, provincial and municipal-based staff.

According to the 2015 Listahanan database- a mechanism to identify who and where the poor are, there are 35,858 poor households in Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan (MiMaRoPa) who experienced displacement due to human induced or natural disasters.

Mostly of them are found in the municipalities of Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro with 2,038 poor households, Boac, Marinduque with 2,034 poor households and San Jose, Occidental Mindoro with poor households 1,694.

Meanwhile, DSWD is set to provide Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) to 119 Typhoon Ruby-affected households in Calatrava, Romblon amounting to 1.1 million pesos this month.

ESA is a cash grant provided to families whose houses are either totally or partially damaged by any form of disaster. It may be released in cash or in the form of construction materials, Tapia said.

Executive Order No. 137 declares the month of July of every year as national disaster consciousness month and institutionalizing the civil defense deputization program to increase the awareness of every Filipino to the ever threatening disasters.###

To address the issue of hunger and malnutrition among schoolchildren in the Philippines, Department of Social Welfare and Development, through its Supplementary Feeding Program, has allocated P1,560.00 per child for 120 feeding days.

Supplementary Feeding Program is the provision of food, in addition to regular meals, to the child-beneficiaries — two to four years old children enrolled in Supervised Neighborhood play groups; three to four years old children enrolled in Child Development Centers (CDC); and five years old children not enrolled in the DepED Preschool — of the program.

This is part of DSWD’s contribution to the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) program of the government.

The additional hot meal a day is composed of  rice and meat/fish/vegetables prepared by the parents organized as Day Care Service Parent Group, with the supervision of day care workers and Municipal Social Welfare and Development  Officers (MSWDOs).

The child-beneficiaries will be weighed at the start of the feeding program and three months thereafter. After the completion of 120 feeding days, the improvement in their nutritional status will be determined.

Combat in MiMaRoPa

            Philippines, according to United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), is the 9th country in the world with the most number of stunted children.

In the Philippines, MiMaRoPa region, composed of provinces of Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan, has the highest underweight and wasting prevalence (Anthropomoteric Survey of Food and Nutrition Research Insitute Departmet of Science and Technology).

About 3 in every 10 (or 27.5%) Filipino preschool children, 0-5 years old, in MiMaRoPa were underweight for their age while one (1) in every 10 or (9.8%) Filipino preschool children was underweight for their height (or wasted).

In order to combat the prevalence of underweight, wasted, overweight and stunted children in MiMaRoPa, DSWD launched SFP in the said region last 2011.

After the implementation of SFP, the overall nutritional status of preschool children in MiMaRoPa has improved.

From 2011 to 2013, the prevalence of underweight preschool children decreased in the provinces of Marinduque (from 21.1% to 14.1%)  and Romblon (from 30.6% to 11.2%).  On the other hand, prevalence of stunting preschool children in MiMaRoPa decreased by 1.6 percentage points while prevalence of wasting children decreased by 0.7 percentage point from 2011 to 2013.

A Worthy Investment

SFP is a worthy investment for the future of children. The extensive school feeding program shows various benefits to the community, parents, teachers, and most specially to children.

As for the community, the overall number of malnutrition decreased.

“Noong 2008 po, wala pang SFP, marami po talagang malnourish dito. Pero bumaba po ito noong nagka-SFP na,” said Analyn M. Tome, Day Care worker of Romblon Romblon.

In addition, it bolsters school enrolment and attendance.

“Nakatulong din po sa daycare worker dahil minsan po ay konti po ang pumapasok sa daycare center, dahil sa SFP po dumarami po,” said Ma. Lourdes M. Fajarda, Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer-in-Charge of Romblon Romblon.

Moreover, SFP heigtens awareness about hygiene and nutritional education. Parents learned how to prepare and cook luscious and healthy meals.

“Yung iba talagang kapos sa pagkain at hindi talaga nakakain ng nutritious food. Sa pamamagitan po ng programa, ang mga magulang po ay natututong magluto ng masasarap at masustansyang pagkain sa murang halaga dahil po sa mga binibigay na cycle menu natin,” explained Fajarda.

SFP also helped parents to lessen their expenses and aided them to prepare budget meals.

“Na-lessen ang malnutrition at saka ang budget po namin ay kapos kaya malaking tulong po talaga. Nabawasan gastos namin!” explained Mae Ann Vallente,  parent of SFP child-beneficiary.

            Children, on the other hand, learned how to eat healthy meals specially vegetables. Their overall physical and mental health have also improved. Also, through socialization during the feeding program, the interpersonal and people skills of children have greatly developed.

“Malaking tulong ang SFP, dahil po ‘pag nasa bahay ang anak namin, mahinang kumain, pero kapag nasa maraming tao natuto po syang kumain ng gulay. Nagaya po siya sa mga kaklase nya” added Vallente.

Good practices such as washing of hands, praying, cleaning the dishes and brushing of teeth were also instilled to children because of SFP.

Challenges of the Program

While SFP has been successful for some years now, there are still challenges that program faces specially on its effectiveness and efficiency.

Several factors responsible for this are: lack of political commitment and financial support; inadequate coverage of the population in need of services; deficiencies in the supply and distribution of supplements at health centres; the cultural and health beliefs of providers and recipients; inadequate training of providers; inadequate education of recipients; the colour and other characteristics of the supplements; undesirable side effects; and low compliance.

However, these challenges will not cease the program in fighting hunger and malnutrition.

Collective Effort

In order to sustain and ensure the effective implementation of the program and to cope up with its challenges, DSWD is strengthening its coordination with the Local Government Unit and other concerned government agencies such as Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Health (DOH).

Also, participation of parents and day care workers is heightened in order to meet the objectives of the program which are: (1) provide augmentation support for feeding program for children in day care centers using indigenous food or locally produced food equivalent o 1/3 of Recommended Energy and Nutrient Intake (RENI); (2) improve the knowledge, attitude and practices of children, parents and caregivers through intensified nutrition and health education; (3) and improve and/or sustain the nutritional status of the target beneficiaries.

Through their collective effort, they will win the combat against hunger and malnutrition.

By nourishing the body, we nourish the spark of life within the body of these children. Feed the body, nourish the soul! ###

‘My Sister’s Keeper’ is a story of a girl who was conceived to be a savior of her sister, who is suffering acute leukemia, by donating compatible organs, blood, and tissue at her own risks.

In Capaclan Romblon Romblon, there is a heroine comparable to Sister’s Keeper. However, unlike in the movie, she preserves her promise to keep her sisters alive.

As sturdy and pure as a marble, Luisa Maduro Tome serves as the strong foundation and savior of the two elderly— Lourdes Lachica, 83, and Celedonia Mojar Tome, 84 —  who live alone near her home in Brgy. Capaclan, Romblon Romblon .  Even they are not related by blood, she considers them as her true family.

Luisa is their sisters’ keeper.

It may not be organs, blood, and tissue that she has donated, but it is her own life and soul that she has offered and dedicated to Lourdes and Celedonia.

What makes her extraordinary keeper? She is also a senior citizen, with nothing but dignity and purest heart.

Life as thin as stick

Luisa, 77, a widow for 10 years, without children, is a true image of a loving and dedicated sister with a heart like Mother Teresa.  She is altruistic, always others-oriented.

Luisa, Lourdes, and Celedonia are all Social Pension beneficiaries since 2015.

The government’s Social Pension Program (Social Pension) implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development provides a monthly stipend  of P500.00 to indigent senior citizens as mandated by Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 Hardships in life.

According to Luisa, life before Social Pension Program is full of hardships and challenges especially that no one is taking care and supporting her.

“Sobrang hirap po talaga ng buhay ko bago yaan (Social Pension Program). Kasi balo na ako ng 10 taon. Tapos wala rin akong anak. Wala ring mga kapatid na tumutulong sa akin. Ako lang lahat, ako lang bumubuhay at nag-aalaga sa sarili ko. Kahit may sakit ako, ako lang,” narrated Luisa while she tries to pose her sincerest smile behind all pains she had experienced.

She has been pierced with irony of life. Even Romblon is known for Marble, she lives in a Nipa Hut made of light materials, with weak foundation, with no electricity and with no direct source of water. Every time there is typhoon, her heart is covered with fear because of danger posed by strong winds and heavy rainfall.

“Dyaan lang po ako nakatira. Mabilis pong magiba yan. Mag-isa lang po ako kaya nakakatakot talaga kapag bumabagyo.”

Luisa doesn’t have a regular source of income. She used to be a ‘walis tingting’ or broomstick vendor.  However, due to her old age, she had difficulty producing broomsticks and peddling it in town.

“Walis tingting lang po ang pinagkakaabalahan ko dati. Kaunti lang po ang kita… Pero hindi na po halos ngayon kasi mahirap na pong maglako sa bayan,” recounted Luisa.
Luisa remains selfless and generous even she had nothing for herself.  She is more concern for the well-being of Lourdes and Celedonia whom she treated as her true sisters.  She always prays for God’s guidance and for her survival — not for her own sake, but for the sake of her sisters so she can continue to take care of them.

Sisters’ Keeper: Sisterhood bonded by heart and soul

“Kahit matanda na po ako. Ako po talaga ang nag-aalaga sa kanila. Wala rin po sa kanilang tumutulong. Kaya gusto ko na lagi akong malakas at hindi magkasakit para mabantayan ko sila,” narrated Luisa as she presses the shoulder of her sisters, showing her unwavering love and support.

Just like Luisa, Lourdes and Celedonia have no one and nothing for themselves. They are also frail and sickly. Lourdes is deaf, mute, and can’t stand on her own while Celedonia has eye problem and has ear impairment.

Luisa, even as senior citizen herself, served as their light and foundation.

“Ako ang tumutulong sa kanila. Kapag may sakit sila, ako ang tumatakbo ng hospital pagkuha ng gamut. Iniigiban ko rin sila ng tubig. Sinasakay ko rin sila sa traysikul kapag pupunta sila sa bayan,” humbly narrated by Luisa.

She is their sisters’ keeper.

She make sure their daily needs are met; she accompanies them in town; she fetches pails of water for them; she takes care of them and buys their medicine every time they are sick.  She does everything to keep her sisters alive.

Social Pension: A program for senior citizens which is sturdy as a marble

Despite all the trials she had encountered in her life, she stays resilient and optimist. She always has a reason to smile and always pray hard for God’s guidance.

Her life becomes even brighter when she became Social Pension Beneficiary last 2015. Luisa is thankful for the regular remittance she receives from DSWD saying that it is a vast help for her to meet her daily needs. She also uses the money to buy her medicines and for the repair of her house.

“Malaking tulong po talaga ang P500.00. Nakabili po ako ng pagkain, ng isda, ng gamut, ng bigas. Nakapagpa-repair din po ako ng bahay. Nagpapasalamat po ako sa inyo at sa Ginoo.”

The priority beneficiaries of the Social Pension are senior citizens who are frail, sickly and disabled, without a regular source of income and/or support from any member of the family, and not receiving other pension benefits from government and private agencies.

As of 2015, there are 7, 575 Social Pension beneficiaries in Romblon province.

Being altruistic, she also helped Lourdes and Celedonia to be Social Pension beneficiaries. She assisted them in processing their requirements and documents. Until now, she serves as their guide in life. Every time there is pay-out in town, she escorts and accompanies them.

“ Tuwing kukuha po ng pera sa bayan. Ako po ang umaalalay sa kanila. Sinasakay ko po sila sa traysikul bilang hindi na nga po sila makalakad ng ayos,” recalled Luisa.

Worthy of monument made of marble, Luisa generously shares her blessings. Her P500.00 per month is not only for her but for the three of them.  Her sisters are more important than her life. She prays that God will extend her life so she can continuously serve Lourdes and Celedonia.

“Sabi ko nga, sana hindi na muna ako kunin ng Ginoo (Panginoon). Dahil iniisip koi tong’ dalawa. Ako lang ang nag-aalaga sa kanila,” said Luisa while she is trying to hold her tears.

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