The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has taken down a controversial advisory which earlier said that everyone looking to hold solicitation and donation drives needs to apply and pay for a permit to do so.
DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said the department was “reviewing the guidelines” to make it “more responsive to the emergency situation.”
“[The] DSWD took down the post to review the guidelines on public solicitation and make the process more responsive to the emergency situation and harmonize it with the resolution of the Inter-Agency Task Force on public solicitation,” Dumlao said on Thursday night.
She explained that the DSWD was also currently studying the automation of the process and waiving the fees for obtaining said permit.
Presidential Decree No. 1564, or the Solicitation Permit Law, mandates the DSWD to regulate the solicitation of donations and receiving of contributions for charitable or public welfare purposes. —Patricia Denise M. Chiu