FOLLOWING the announcement by the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) of the new exemption from the poll spending ban for key government programs, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian reiterated that the agency remains open in accommodating people in crisis, with or without referrals.
“Whether there is a referral, or none, as long as there is a need, we will help,” Gatchalian said in a television interview.
Gatchalian assured the public that the agency’s social workers, who are licensed professionals, follow stringent measures to ensure that the DSWD’s programs and services will be free from political interference, especially during the election season.
“I just want to emphasize that our social workers…they are really trained in how to assess a person’s needs. That’s what they’re trained in, to look at the person, to understand the circumstances and the crisis and to do the necessary intervention,” Gatchalian said in Filipino.
He added that even if the prospective beneficiary wrote a referral, but in the eyes of the social worker the person is not qualified and does not need the assistance, they won’t accept it.
Aside from providing social welfare assistance, Gatchalian emphasized that social workers also recommend interventions and conduct case management to prioritize the long-term development of clients and beneficiaries, veering away from the observations that poor Filipinos are increasingly becoming dependent on government cash assistance.
“You know, social workers don’t just recommend financial assistance and guarantee letters, sometimes they recommend psychosocial interventions, we have psychologists in the Department, and case management… in real life, our social workers recommend many more non-monetary interventions,” Gatchalian said.