Incoming DSWD chief Erwin Tulfo. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — Give him six months to one year to prove his worth as secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
It was broadcaster Erwin Tulfo this time who imposed that condition on himself, almost echoing a promise made by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, when he vowed to end the drug menace in three to six months.
But Tulfo wants a leeway of up to a year to fulfill his job, even setting the date when his probationary period would end.
“My request is to give me six months to one year. Okay, one year, until May 31, 2023. If I cannot deliver, I myself will step down from my position,” Tulfo said at Malacañang’s Laging Handa briefing on Tuesday.
The veteran broadcaster, who was among the five more people named on Monday to President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Cabinet, was supposed to join the incoming 19th Congress as a nominee of the ACT-CIS party-list group, the topnotcher in the party-list race.
According to him, his nomination to the DSWD, as disclosed by incoming press secretary Trixie Cruz Angeles, drew criticism on social media.
But if he is able to do his job, he must be allowed to finish his tenure, Tulfo said.
‘Secretary on the ground’
In a separate interview, Tulfo said: “I will be a secretary on the ground. I will be a secretary people can touch, people can talk to.”
This is to assure them that “the government is here, the government is watching, the government is helping. And we are here. All the help is here,” he said.
Among his priorities would be to “open the gates” of all DSWD offices and set up action centers in front of their buildings, and to form a “quick reaction team” that would provide immediate assistance to communities during disasters.
“[I]f they come to my office, …the assistance and all the necessary help will be readily available, provided that they have all the requirements,” he promised.
With regards to disaster relief, delivering assistance to people in need during calamities should be done within 24 hours, Tulfo said.
But he acknowledged as well that these goals present huge challenges.
“I guess I will have to move mountains here,” said the broadcaster who is no stranger to facilitating government assistance to callers in his radio program, “Tutok Erwin Tulfo.”
“This time around, it will be me [whom they can see],” he said.
Consulting Marcos, Robredo
The incoming social welfare chief said he has discussed with Marcos the problems confronting the department.
He said the President-elect wanted him to digitize the agency’s distribution of subsidies and clean up its list of beneficiaries, comparing it with those of the local government units.
In line with Marcos’ “unity” theme during the recent election campaign, Tulfo said he was open to working with the Angat Buhay Foundation which outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo will launch on July 1, a day after Marcos’ inauguration as President.
“If the Vice President will be in charge [of that foundation], then I will sit down and talk [with] her to tell her, ‘Ma’am, can you give [us] an idea on this,’ so that I would know what she thinks and get her opinion,” Tulfo told the Inquirer in a phone interview.
Furthermore, he said he would be accessible to the media, even keeping his phone open during the wee hours.
Tulfo is expected to meet soon with outgoing Social Welfare Secretary Rolando Bautista, whom he once threatened to slap and dunk in the toilet after Bautista refused to take his call during a live broadcast in 2019.
Pensions due
Meanwhile, Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes of the Senior Citizen party list group said he wanted to meet with Tulfo to discuss the pensions due for indigent senior citizens.
“We will let him know that one of the key issues [concerning the DSWD] is the database or list of seniors and the fact that there are tens of thousands of seniors without immediate access to ATMs and e-payment facilities,” said Ordanes, who heads the House senior citizens committee in the outgoing 18th Congress.
The lawmaker said he was pleased that Tulfo would lead the department.
“There must be better ways to improve the … database … to disburse the pension to seniors,” he said in his statement on Tuesday.
—WITH A REPORT FROM JULIE M. AURELIO
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