The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Tuesday welcomed a survey which showed the “social protection agency” and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) shared the top spot as the most trusted agencies.
According to the OCTA Research group’s “Tugon ng Masa” survey conducted from July 22 to 26, the DSWD and the CHED emerged on top with 78 percent trust rating, followed by the Department of Health (DOH) with 77 percent; the Department of Education (DepEd), 75 percent; and the Philippine National Police (PNP), 74 percent.
“On behalf of Secretary Rex Gatchalian and the whole DSWD family, I would like to extend our gratitude to the Filipino people for their continued confidence and trust in the Department,” said Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez, DSWD spokesperson.
Lopez said the five agencies also topped the list of 25 government agencies in terms of performance ratings, with at least three-fourths of the 1,200 respondents saying they were satisfied with their performance. Their ratings were in the following order: CHED, 80 percent; DepEd, 79 percent; PNP, 76 percent; DOH, 75 percent; and DSWD, 73 percent.
“We in the DSWD are really humbled. We owe this high rating to our hardworking and dedicated staff and partners who continue to ensure that we provide the best quality service to our kababayans in need,” he said.
He added that the survey result will serve as inspiration to strengthen and improve more on their delivery of services and programs under the leadership of Secretary Rex Gatchalian.
In a similar development, the PAHAYAG 2023 second quarter survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia Inc. from June 8 to 12 also showed the DSWD as among the top trusted government agencies.
Of the 1,500 participating respondents across the country, the Department garnered a 65 percent approval rating from the independent and non-commissioned survey.
The DSWD continues implementing big-ticket programs that address poverty and hunger.
These are the flagship projects such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP), the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services Kalahi-CIDSS), the Assistance for Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) and the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens, among others.
The latest DSWD flagship project is the Food Stamp Program (FSP), which aims to provide food augmentation to the bottom 1 million households from Listahanan 3, who belong to the food poor criteria as defined by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The Food Stamp Program was piloted in Tondo, Manila in July with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Z. Duterte gracing the DSWD-led launch.
Five pilot sites have been identified with “different geopolitical characteristics.” These include the selected cities and municipalities in the National Capital Region, Caraga Region and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The targeted pilot sites are geographically isolated regions, urban poor settings, calamity-stricken areas and rural poor areas.
“We have to do the pilot at 3,000 families; 300,000 hopefully next year in first run; another 300,000 right after and then hopefully, reach the magic number of one million in the succeeding year,” Gatchalian said in an earlier interview.
Target family beneficiaries whose income does not go beyond PHP8,000 a month will be given electronic benefit card or ‘tap cards’ which will be loaded with food credits amounting to PHP3,000. (PNA)
