ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), an agency that protects the well-being of the people, stands by the slogan “May Malasakit”.
This resonates with its mandate to care for the public and their security by ensuring that efficiency of services is delivered while pouring out the compassion and care for their well-being.
This mantra is imbued in the core values of the department and its employees to embrace the call for true public service.
Dionisia Caritan Abne, a 57-year-old Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiary of Barangay Bagong Silang, Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay, have personally experienced the warmth of the department’s care towards its clients.
Her husband, Antonio, strives hard to provide the needs of their seven children amid his meager monthly earning of PHP1,400.
Antonio expressed the difficulty to afford and sustain the daily expenses of the household due to the minimum income that he gets from rubber tapping.
Life got even tougher for the couple after one of their children suffered from an illness that led to the loss of his limb.
Ruel, son of Dionisia and Antonio, had an untreated wound on his leg for 10 years. This caused severe infection that slowly affected his flesh and bones.
The family was left with no choice but to get Ruel’s leg amputated. Every day, he glides his buttocks on the floor so he can move around the house.
Looking into the mobility and difficulty of their son, this gave Dionisia and Antonio so much pain in the heart knowing that they cannot even afford to have their son checked for medical assessment.
During one of the monthly Family Development Sessions (FDS) in Barangay Bagong Silang, Municipal Link (ML), Ruth Palumbarit immediately felt empathy upon knowing the situation of Abne family.
This led Palumbarit to commit and help the family even if it means going beyond her expected duties as a Municipal Link.
She immediately conducted a home visit to personally meet Dionisia’s son for assessment and see what assistance could be given to the family.
She prepared an assessment report and presented it to the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) and Municipal Mayor for possible assistance.
Palumbarit also referred the case to DSWD’s Crisis Intervention Unit (CIU) and was given the family an amount of PHP10,000 for medical assistance.
Through the kindness of the worker and the people who extended help from her referrals, Ruel Abne’s leg amputation was done for free and was provided an artificial leg and crutches for his easy mobility after the recovery.
Abne family was grateful for the opportunity and assistance rendered to them through its Municipal Link.
Ruel Abne is now in Grade 3 and can already mingle with his classmates with comfort and confidence in his heart.
The 4Ps, being one of the programs of the DSWD, does not just end by providing social assistance and but also maximizes its efforts through regular case management.
Through this mechanism, the pressing interventions needed by certain family beneficiaries to further cross the bridge towards an improved quality of life can easily be addressed.
The workers, on the other hand, ensure that they care for the beneficiaries not just because they are clients of the program but because they are also part of the circle called FAMILY. (Fung Kay-Choi, DSWD Press Release)
