Farm-to-table foods

Just four months into office at the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), former Valenzuela City Mayor and now Secretary Rex Gatchalian is finding new ways of “ease in doing business” in his agency. The erstwhile chief executive of the city government of Valenzuela for three consecutive terms vows to implement the “ease of doing business” at the level of his new job in the national government agency.

Speaking in our weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday, Gatchalian disclosed he started implementing the “ease of doing business” since his appointment as DSWD Secretary on Jan. 31 this year. Based on the “marching order” of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on the “digitalization” of government processes, Gatchalian began applying them in a bid to speed up the delivery of various social welfare, or “ayuda,” and socio-economic development programs of the DSWD to better serve the public in general, including their private sector partners.

On the social welfare programs, Gatchalian believes this will help eliminate eventually the long lines of people needing to queue just to get cash aid and other forms of assistance from the DSWD. The DSWD currently runs four major social welfare programs and the most popular of which is the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, or 4Ps.

The 4Ps, or the conditional cash transfer, is the flagship program of the DSWD that has todate 4.4 million Filipinos from the poorest of the poor as direct beneficiaries. The 4Ps program, delivered to the beneficiaries via automated teller machines (ATM) cards, was the first program of the DSWD that got digitalized.

The 4Ps has an annual budget of P103 billion, or almost half of the DSWD budget of around P209 billion for this year. “The 4Ps is an investment in human capital. Without that, our poor countrymen will not be able to send their children to school,” Gatchalian pointed out.

By August this year, Gatchalian reported, around 700,000 of 4Ps beneficiaries will “graduate” from this 14-year old subsidy program of the DSWD. They can, however, apply to the other DSWD social welfare program called Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP). This is the cash assistance for start-up small business enterprises for those who will “graduate” from the 4P’s.

Another sought after social welfare program of the DSWD is the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS). This aid program also causes long lines of people applying for it in various DSWD offices all over the country. This is one-time cash aid for medical, burial, education, and other emergency or crisis situation of people in dire financial straits.

The other biggest program of the DSWD is the World Bank (WB) funded KALAHI-CIDSS, or the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services. Gatchalian has officially requested the WB to extend this loan program for another year to enable the DSWD to use its remaining unused balance of P9 billion. The funds are intended for infrastructure needs of geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs) in the Philippines. However, Gatchalian rued, the local government units (LGUs) in these GIDAs have been unable to access it due to many red tape requirements.

Other than social welfare and development programs, Gatchalian clarified the DSWD also has licensing, regulation and accreditation (LRA) functions over some 600 care services facilities that are privately run all over the Philippines. These are the foundations and organizations that raise donations for specific causes. Operating under the regulatory arm of the DSWD, they include the likes of our own STAR Damayan, GMA Kapuso Foundation, the ABS-CBN Bantay-Bata, etc.

To further improve the regulatory functions of the DSWD, Gatchalian supported the initiatives of his immediate predecessor ex-DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo who removed the barangay certificate among the 25 to 40 documentary requirements imposed on those applying at the LRA offices of the DSWD.

By twist of fate, Gatchalian and Tulfo switched places.

Gatchalian ceded his first congressional district of Valenzuela City and took over from Tulfo after the latter’s appointment was rejected by the Commission on Appointments. Tulfo last May 30 took his oath at the Lower House as party list representative of the Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS).

PBBM has recently designated Gatchalian as DSWD Secretary to head the newly created Task Force Against Hunger. The Chief Executive tasked the DSWD Secretary to undertake the Food Stamp Program (FSP) which seeks to address the much reported hunger problem among indigent Filipinos.

After all, PBBM is still the concurrent “acting” Agriculture Secretary.

During our conversations at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay, Gatchalian agreed with the suggestion of Albay Rep. Joey Salceda to link up the FSP with PBBM’s priority to address agricultural productivity which includes reduction of wastage of crops due to oversupply and other causes.

“We need to establish a connection between the farmers and the tables of poor Filipinos, not only farm-to-market, but also farm-to-table,” the DSWD Secretary stressed.

Gatchalian explained the FSP targets families of farmers whose monthly incomes is less than P8,000. Dubbed as “Walang Gutom 2027,” the FSP seeks to provide a P3,000 per month allowance to at least 1 million “food poor” families.

According to Gatchalian, he has already reached out with concerned officials of the Department of Agriculture to organize local farmers to become active partners in the FSP implementation. Gatchalian cited the program aims to prioritize “farmers-driven stores” such as those operated by the Kadiwa ng Pangulo and agri-cooperatives as outlets where beneficiaries to buy cheaper but well-balanced nutritious food products using tap cards for “ease of doing business” also.

While farmers’ plight is being addressed, PBBM has yet to name though his permanent Agriculture Secretary.