Significant milestones
Apart from the institutionalization of 4Ps, other significant milestones were also achieved by the Department under the Duterte Administration.
Notable of which is the increase in the funding for the Assistance to Individual in Crisis Situation (AICS) in order to serve more needy families and individuals. With this program, beneficiaries are granted with medical, burial, transportation, food and non-food assistance in the form of outright cash for the provision of support services to our kababayans in their most trying times. From March 2020 to April 2021, more than 1.12 million clients have received assistance under AICS.
Pandemic landmarks
Despite the challenges brought about by the global pandemic, the government, under the administration of President Duterte, has been continuously addressing not just the health but also the socio-economic impacts of the crisis in the lives of the Filipinos through the enactment of Bayanihan laws.
Under Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act (Bayanihan1), the DSWD was mandated to implement the Social Amelioration Program (SAP), which is considered as the biggest social amelioration package that the Philippine government has implemented. Through SAP, the DSWD has provided financial assistance amounting to P5,000-P8,000 to over 18 million low-income households who were assessed to be most affected by the COVID-19 health crisis.
On the other hand, under Republic Act No. 11519 or the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act (Bayanihan 2), the Department extended emergency subsidy to families affected by the extended and granular lockdowns.
These laws provided the social safety nets and economic measures needed to support the most vulnerable during the pandemic.
Another initiative to mitigate the effects of the pandemic is the implementation of the Balik-Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program. This effort has greatly helped our stranded fellowmen and displaced workers to go back to their home towns and start anew through the provision of different interventions or packages such as transportation and relocation assistance, food and non-food essentials during the transition period, livelihood settlement grants, transitory shelter assistance, and psychosocial support for the family-beneficiaries, among others.