DSWD’S SOCIAL PROTECTION AMONG TOP PRIORITIES IN PBBM-APPROVED 2025 NATIONAL EXPENDITURE PROGRAM

By Junex Doronio

MANILA — Being the lead government agency for social protection, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Assistant Secretary for External Assistance and Development Juan Carlo “JC” Marquez on Thursday (04 June 2024) vowed that it will continue to fulfill its mandate to develop, implement and coordinate social protection and poverty-reduction solutions for the poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged.

This assurance was made as he disclosed that social protection was considered among the top priorities in the proposed 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the government’s spending plan which was approved by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. during the 17th Cabinet meeting held at Malacañang Palace on Tuesday (2 July 2024).

“The DSWD, under the leadership of Secretary Rex Gatchalian, assures the public that our ongoing initiatives are in line with the priorities of the Marcos administration,” said Asst. Secretary Marquez, who is also the DSWD co-spokesperson.

Based on the President’s directives and policy guidance, social protection is among the administration’s priorities alongside food security, healthcare, housing, disaster resilience, infrastructure, digital connectivity, and energization.

Social protection is one of the expenditure priorities that is geared towards achieving the President’s 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda and the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028.

The NEP, once approved by both houses of Congress, will be known as the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) and will eventually become the General Appropriations Act (GAA) once signed into law.

Under the approved NEP amounting to P6.352 trillion, the DSWD’s proposed budget for 2025 was P229.3 billion.

Almost half of the DSWD 2025 budget goes to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the government’s flagship program for poverty alleviation that provides cash grants to household beneficiaries to make them self-sufficient.

“Recently, we partnered with private agencies in digitizing the disbursement of cash grants to 4Ps beneficiaries and other social protection programs of the Department,” Marquez said.

Under the Human Capital Development, establishment and upgrading interoperable social registries targeting systems for vulnerable sectors, and shifting to digital payments of cash transfer programs are some of the presented plans for social protection.

Marquez further said achieving a universal, modern, and integrated social protection system, and developing and implementing adaptive and shock-responsive interventions are also included in the priorities under social protection

“Once approved, this will benefit the qualified and compliant beneficiaries, ensuring that they will continue to receive the grants that will help them attain self-sufficiency and eventually break the intergenerational cycle of poverty in their families,” the DSWD co-spokesperson pointed out.

The DSWD is set to launch a dynamic social registry (DSR) that aims to enhance the exchange of updated demographic and migration data, crucial for targeting and supporting vulnerable households.

(el Amigo/mnm)