PCOO checks P3-B upgrade of DSWD centers nationwide

PALO, Leyte, April 5  -- The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) has vowed to help monitor the implementation of a PHP3-billion fund to upgrade the 71 centers of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) nationwide.

PCOO Undersecretary Lorraine Marie Badoy said this is the first time for DSWD centers, which have been neglected, to receive a huge budget to develop their facilities and build the capability of their personnel.

“President Rodrigo Duterte is interested in finding things out if the most helpless are properly cared for. Compared to beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer, residents of DSWD centers are more defenseless since they have no families,” Badoy said.

The PCOO official visited the four DSWD centers in Leyte province late Wednesday afternoon to see the status of abused children and women under government care. She also checked on the ongoing infrastructure projects as part of the PHP3-billion outlay.

Badoy and then DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo pushed for more funding support for DSWD centers. The PCOO official was the department’s assistant secretary for centers and institutions until October 2017.

“Aside from improving facilities, we are more concerned with capability building of center staff. It doesn’t really matter if the facility is new or not, for as long as children are being properly cared for,” Badoy told reporters.

She said that in 2015, the 71 centers only got a PHP300 million plus budget. The meager allocation for centers prompted the DSWD to lobby for a higher budget.

During the budget deliberations, Senator Loren Legarda proposed a PHP2-billion budget for centers. Senator Nancy Binay pushed for PHP1 billion extra budget, bringing the total to PHP3 billion.

“Senator Legarda asked us in the PCOO to help check the status of these projects. This is part of PCOO’s mandate to work closely with the executive department to make sure that projects reach the target beneficiaries,” Badoy added.

Since her appointment in the PCOO, the official has already visited centers in four regions of the country.

In Leyte, Badoy visited the Haven-Substitute Home Care for Women, Home for Girls, and Reception and Study Center for Children in Palo town; and the Regional Rehabilitation Center for Youth in Tanauan town.

These centers received PHP67 million for improvement this year. (SQM/PNA)