Institutionalizing and expanding the Pag-Abot Project through Malacañang’s issuance of Executive Order (EO) No. 52 has significantly helped the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in strengthening reach-out operations for families and individuals in street situations (FISS) in Metro Manila, a project team leader said on Thursday (February 8).
Pag-Abot Program Team Leader Marilyn Moral, told reporters during DSWD Thursday Media Forum that EO 52 provides for collaborative efforts among government agencies from the national and local levels in addressing the needs of FISS.
“We are expanding our reach, we are expanding our partnership with other agencies that will be able to help us,” the Pag-Abot team leader said in the weekly media forum hosted by Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications Romel Lopez and Traditional Media Service (TMS ) Director Aldrine Fermin.
With EO 52 in place, the Pag-Abot team leader noted that other member-government agencies of the Inter-agency Committee (IAC) for the Pag-Abot project can easily intervene as the DSWD has already put up a reliable database.
“The database will be the basis for providing better access, not limiting what will be given, but rather, they can be accessed by others, whether it’s the government, non-government entities, or local government units,” Team Leader Moral explained.
According to Moral, the rollout of the e-profiling tool makes it easier for social workers, who are interviewing individuals and families living and staying on the streets during their profiling activities, to update the client’s information in real-time from a remote location using the enhanced technology.
“Now, since our goal is to digitize and streamline… the DSWD has already developed an e-profiling tool. We have piloted it and checked if it’s possible, feasible, and it is indeed feasible,” Moral pointed out.
Currently, the member-agencies of the IAC are in constant coordination to identify the roles and responsibilities of each member, and their complimentary services for the reached-out families and individuals.
DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian has already convened the first inter-agency meeting for the drafting of EO 52’s implementing rules and regulations. Under the EO the DSWD Secretary will chair the IAC while the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary will be the vice-chair.
To date, the DSWD has so far profiled 3,820 individuals in street situations. Of these, some 1,805 individuals were already reached out by the DSWD and provided with necessary interventions.
Launched in July 2023, as a priority program of Secretary Gatchalian, Pag-Abot Project is being implemented in Metro Manila to reach out to people living and staying on the streets and provide them with the necessary and appropriate interventions, as well as opportunities to improve their social and economic status and fulfill their fundamental rights.
