MANILA – More vulnerable families and individuals in street situations (FISS) will be protected from hazardous and untoward incidents as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is set to open a new Pag-abot Program processing center in Bacoor City, Cavite.
“As part of the efforts to reach out to more families and individuals who live on the streets, the DSWD, through its Field Office (FO) 4-A (Calabarzon), recently signed a Deed of Usufruct Agreement with the City Government of Bacoor to set up a new processing center in the locality,” DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said in a news release on Tuesday.
The partnership was formally signed by DSWD 4-A Assistant Director for Administration Alkent Bacolod and Bacoor City Mayor Strike Revilla at the S.T.R.I.K.E. Gymnasium on March 9.
The Deed of Usufruct grants the DSWD the temporary rights to establish a Pag-abot Regional Processing Center in Barangay Poblacion (formerly Barangay Camposanto).
“Considering Calabarzon’s proximity to Metro Manila, the establishment of the new Pag-abot processing center will enable the DSWD to provide various immediate interventions, using a rights-based approach, to reach out to people living and staying on the streets in the Southern Tagalog region, one of the highly urbanized areas in the country,” Dumlao said.
Started by the DSWD in 2023, the Pag-abot Program was institutionalized in January 2024 through Executive Order 52, signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
The program provides a wide array of comprehensive interventions, as well as opportunities, to improve the social and economic status and fundamental rights of FISS.
These interventions include medical assistance, food aid, transportation and relocation assistance, livelihood opportunities, transitory family support packages, and emergency financial and transitory shelter assistance, among others.
To connect with the program or refer someone in need, interested parties can reach the DSWD Pag-abot Program via their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DSWDPagabot/, email them at pagabotcms@dswd.gov.ph, or call their hotline at 8-931-9141. (PNA)