Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rolando Bautista received his recognition as a Cavalier Awardee for Public Administration during the 2021 Philippine Military Academy Homecoming.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as the chair of the Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornography (IACACP) commits to strengthen its programs and services for victims of child pornography and their families and to advocate for stronger policies that would ensure the protection of children from various forms of sexual exploitation.

This developed as the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) released a report indicating an increase in volume of suspicious transactions related to child pornography.

As chair of the IACACP and the lead agency in the social protection of vulnerable sectors, the DSWD is closely working with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to track and apprehend the perpetrators of child pornography and rescue the victims. DSWD is also working with the local government units (LGUs), especially with the various Local Council for the Protection of Children (LCPC) around the country, to increase awareness, prevention, and early detection of cases. Rescued victims are placed in DSWD custody and provided with psychosocial interventions.

Over the years, the Department has intensified its coordination with IACACP member-agencies to address the problem of child pornography. Among the major accomplishments of the Council was a strengthened advocacy for the prevention of child pornography through various platforms, including the formulation of a National Response Plan (NRP) for Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) 2016-2020.

Based on the National Response Model Frame of the We Protect Global Alliance, the NRP serves as a guide for government agencies, LGUs, civil society organizations, private sectors and other stakeholders to address the gaps in prevention, responses, capacity building, policies and child protection mechanisms. In order to attain this task, the NRP had devised five Key Result Areas on Advocacy and Prevention, Law Enforcement and Prosecution, Protection, Recovery and Reintegration, Research and Management Information System, and Resource Mobilization and Partnership.

To reinforce the campaign against online child pornography, the Duterte administration issued Proclamation No. 417 on February 5, 2018, declaring the 2nd Tuesday of February of every year as “Safer Internet Day for Children Philippines”.

Likewise, in this time of pandemic, the DSWD emphasized that it is even more crucial to closely monitor the safety of children even inside their homes, since they cannot go out to report abuses being committed against them.

The Department is also encouraging the community to be on the alert and immediately report to the authorities all forms of abuses against children through the following hotlines:

DSWD Recovery and Reintegration Program for Trafficked Persons (RRPTP) Hotline (02) 8931-9141;Text DSWD <space> blockchildporn<space> URL address and send to 2327or Text blockchildporn <space> URL address and send to 0918-9122813;Commission on Filipino Overseas TIP Hotline 1343PNP Patrol 911PNP Women and Children Protection Center: 0919 777 7377PNP Anti Cybercrime Group: Tel. No. (02) 723-0401 local 5354 Fax No. (02) 414-1560, 0926-084-3792NBI: (02) 523-8231 to 38 local 3454 to 3455DOJ-Office of Cybercrime Tel. NO.(02) 524-82-16

The Department reiterated that a coordinated global and national response is needed in addressing the problem of child pornography, especially during this pandemic when more people, including children, are spending longer hours online.

The IACACP is tasked to guarantee the protection of every child from all forms of neglect, cruelty, and other conditions prejudicial to his/her development. It was created through Republic Act No. 9775, otherwise known as the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009.

###

DSWD augments resources of Negros Occidental LGUs affected by flooding 

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has provided augmentation support to local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental to help them respond to the needs of their constituents affected by massive flooding brought by two different frontal systems in the province.

On December 31, 2020, a low pressure area (LPA) and the tail-end of a frontal system brought heavy and prolonged rainfall over Visayas resulting to massive flooding particularly in 54 barangays in the province of Negros Occidental.

As of January 6, more than P1.5 million worth of assistance was provided by DSWD, concerned LGUs and private partners to immediately address the needs of affected families.

Meanwhile, on January 8, a flooding incident brought by another tail-end of a frontal system occurred in low-lying areas of Silay City, Victorias City, Sagay City, Cadiz City and E.B. Magalona also in Negros Occidental. To date, the Department, through its Field Office VI, has provided initial 390 family food packs  to the city government of Silay for the affected locals.

Based on the January 10 report of the DSWD Disaster Response and Management Bureau, some 7,640 families or 37,830 persons from 48 barangays in the province have been affected by the latest flooding incident.

The DSWD-Field Office VI is consistently coordinating with all affected LGUs, which are the first responders during disasters and calamities, for the needed resource augmentation. The provision of resource augmentation is part of the mandate of DSWD as chair of the Food and Non-Food Items Cluster of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

DSWD assures the public that it has sufficient relief supplies to aid the affected population. Currently, the Department maintains stockpiles and standby funds amounting to more than P727 million. Of which, more than P121 million standby funds is available in the Central Office and DSWD field offices. In addition, there are also 160,256 FFPs prepositioned in strategic areas around the country.

###

DSWD garners highest approval rating in latest Pulse Asia Survey

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) welcomes the result of the latest Pulse Asia Ulat ng Bayan Nationwide Survey indicating that it garnered a 78 percent approval rating, which is the highest approval rating among the different government offices in the executive branch.

The survey fieldwork, which was conducted from November 23 to December 2, 2020, also indicated that the Department obtained an 87 percent approval rating in Mindanao and an 81 percent approval rating in Visayas.

The DSWD reiterated that the sustained favorable survey result, once again, ascertains that the sectors being served by the Department are satisfied by the kind of service provided to them. The high approval rating also affirms that the programs and services of the DSWD continue to trickle down to the target beneficiaries.

To maintain this gain, the Department pledges that it will further strengthen its partnership with local government units by increasing their capacity to improve their service delivery to ensure that more families and individuals will have an improved quality of life. DSWD will also continue the unhampered provision of social protection programs to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and community quarantine measures through the implementation of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), Social Pension (SocPen) Program, Supplementary Feeding Program, Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), protective services for individuals and families in distress, and disaster response and rehabilitation programs. ###