THE DEPARTMENT of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) XI announced on Monday two individuals and three families rescued from the streets were brought back to the region.
Ena Marie Monter, DSWD XI Pag-abot Program focal person, said these families came from various places in Manila.
The initiative was made possible through the Pag-Abot Program- one of the programs of DSWD that aims to reach out and provide holistic interventions to the vulnerable sectors of Children, Individuals and Families in Street Situations and keep them away from the streets.
The two individuals came from Calinan District in the city and the other one from Manay, Davao Oriental.
Meanwhile of the family rescued, one is from Matina crossing in Davao City. from Ata Tribe in Paquibato District were victims of human trafficking who went to Manila as they were promised a job, while the family from Tagum City were rescued from Tagum City and were found residing in a cemetery in Pasay City.
The beneficiaries from the Ata tribe and Calinan received livelihood assistance of P60,000 each. Monter said all beneficiaries will receive a total of P80,000 in cash.
Social workers, through the local government, will monitor and follow up on the status of beneficiaries to ensure they are fully reintegrated and continuously provided with assistance.
Meanwhile, assistance for the rest of the beneficiaries will be processed in September.
Apart from livelihood assistance, they can also avail of rental subsidy and employment assistance of P5,000.
Since its institutionalization on January 18, by virtue of Executive Order (EO) No. 52, the agency successfully reached out to 2, 862 and profiled 6,872 as of August 29.
In July, Williams Street in Pasay City which was previously used by a Philippine Overseas Gaming Operation (POGO) was transformed as the Pag- Abot Program’s new processing center.
The processing center functions as a transient house for families and individuals in street situations while reintegration is underway.
Monter said at present, they are still awaiting orders from the national office for local implementation.
“We will focus on cities in the region where we observe a lot of homeless people,” she added.
