ILOILO CITY – The city government and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 6 officially signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to implement community assistance initiatives under the agency’s Pag-Abot Program.
Mayor Jerry P. Treñas and DSWD Regional Director Arwin O. Razo signed the MOA, marking a strengthened partnership in delivering social services to vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals, families, and children in street situations.
This DSWD program focuses on the enhanced and unified delivery of services to those in need. Under Executive Order 52, Series of 2024, among the program’s key assistance components are financial assistance, transportation or relocation aid, transitory shelter support, livelihood and employment assistance, psychosocial support, capacity building for communities and local government units (LGUs), and community assistance initiatives.
Based on the MOA, the Iloilo City Government will collaborate with the DSWD to implement community assistance, which will be carried out through the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) program. This approach follows a community-driven development model, empowering communities to identify and address their own needs.
Mayor Treñas expressed optimism about the partnership, stating that the initiative will bring much-needed support to the city’s most vulnerable sectors.
“It has been already a long program of DSWD. I’m very happy that our barangay will be one of the beneficiaries — San Isidro, Jaro. That is one of the biggest relocation sites of the city. The time we bought that, it was only about 50 million for 16.2 hectares. And we continue to buy more land there. Just this morning, we signed an agreement for 1,677 units with EON for our people who do not have homes yet,” he announced.
Treñas also highlighted the need for potable water in relocation sites, sharing that the program funded by DSWD includes the establishment of a water refilling station in Barangay San Isidro.
Meanwhile, Razo emphasized the importance of collaboration between national and local government agencies in ensuring the program’s success.
“We appreciate the support of the local government unit of the City of Iloilo, including Barangay San Isidro, Jaro. And this is again another engagement with the City Government of Iloilo, which we believe would benefit our sectors, especially those integrated into the receiving community,” Razo said.
He clarified that the assistance provided is a grant to the barangay and should be implemented according to the approved design and proposal.
On the supplementary feeding program, Razo shared that over 7,600 children in the city’s public daycare centers will benefit from the initiative./PN
