The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is set to launch on October 22 its innovative Project Riayah to benefit the vulnerable children and youth living in 52 torils in Marawi City.
Project Riayah is a social protection initiative of the agency intended to support vulnerable, abandoned and orphaned children living in torils in Marawi City.
“It’s an initiative of the DSWD under the leadership of Secretary Rex Gatchalian, which is part of the commitment of the agency to help support the children and youth from the most vulnerable and poorest members of society, focusing on helping and supporting children and youth in toril,” Atty. Princess Janna Pumbaya, Department Legislative Liaison (DLL) Specialist, told DZMM’s Serbisyong DSWD for Every Juan on Saturday (October 11).
Atty. Pumbaya, who is with the DSWD’s Office of the Undersecretary for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, said that the project name is taken from the Arabic term ri’ayah, meaning care, guardianship and protection, and which best describes the overall goal of the project.
The project was conceptualized in line with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to institutionalize recovery and rehabilitation efforts for Marawi City as encapsulated in the issuance of Administrative Order No. 14 signed on December 22, 2023.
“The President issued Administrative Order No. 14 which institutionalizes the rehabilitation and recovery efforts for Marawi, after the Marawi siege. Ang nangyari dun, parang magkakaroon ng whole of government approach na lahat ng Departments may specific tasks,” Atty. Pumbaya told the DZMM anchors.
“For DSWD, it’s to attend to the basic needs of the people affected by Marawi siege. The idea behind, na-realize na wala pa palang national program to cater to these torils when in fact they are actually very important part of the society kasi they take care of vulnerable children,” the DLL specialist pointed out.
Torils are private non-formal learning institutions that provide Qur’an memorization, Arabic language instruction, and/or education on Islamic values and laws typically within a residential setting.
These institutions are typically run by an ulama (Islamic scholars) or asatidh (Islamic teachers) and cater to children and youth—many of whom are orphaned, abandoned, neglected, and from extremely poor backgrounds.
“Gusto ko lang i-clarify na these torils, they are learning institutions, tinuturo nila how to read Arabic, islamic values, which are universal like mercy, compassion and respect for others,” Atty. Pumbaaya said.
“In Marawi alone, yung na-validate, 52. Nagkaroon ng validation survey January 2024 and August 2024 binisita talaga ang 52 torils to verify kung existing sila. And then yung social workers, they interviewed 1,761 students. And they found out, 60 percent males, more than 30 percent are orphaned, abandoned, neglected or may solo parent lang,” Atty. Pumabaya told program host Alvin Elchico.
The DLL specialist added that in the aftermath of the Marawi siege, thousands of families were pushed to extreme poverty. Hence, some parents choose to leave their children in torils where they can study and learn, provided with adequate food, and their safety ensured.
Under the Project, the DSWD will establish a Riayah center, in partnership with a big toril, which in turn, will serve as a bridge for smaller torils to access the agency’s programs and services.
The DSWD engaged in a partnership with Zaid Bin Thabit (ZBT), a big toril, which received its Certificate of Registration and License to Operate as an auxiliary social welfare and development agency (SWDA) from the Department on October 3.
“Yan (ZBT) yung magiging central hub, it’s gonna network with smaller torils, kasi yung mga graduate ng ZBT, marami sa kanila nagsimula ng smaller torils or nagtuturo sa smaller torils, so sila ang may network and sila ang tutulong para mag register din sila (smaller torils),” Atty. Pumbaya said.
Aside from ZBT, the DSWD also partnered with the Marawi City Government, Mindanao State University (MSU), and other international partners.
The ‘Serbisyong DSWD for Every Juan’ is aired over DZMM Teleradyo 630 every Saturday from 11 am to 12 noon, and anchored by veteran broadcaster Alvin Elchico with Jet Guevarra of the DSWD’s Public Relations Service as co-anchor. (GDVF)
