MANILA, Philippines – Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Erwin Tulfo pointed to miscommunication as the reason that a large crowd swarmed the department on Saturday morning after he announced that P500 million worth of financial assistance would be given to indigent students.
READ: Large crowd swarms DSWD central office for distribution of educational aid
“Ang nangyari po ay nagkaroon ng miscommunication. It was a miscommunication down the line, alright? When I was informed na ‘Okay tayo, Secretary, may walk-in tayo’, okay naman din yun sir, kasi ngayon, rinerecalibrate namin every minute,” Tulfo told media when asked why people suddenly had to register with a QR code when they thought walk-in was allowed.
(What happened was a miscommunication. It was a miscommunication down the line, alright? When I was informed ‘we are okay Secretary, we can have walk-ins’, that was all right. Right now, we are recalibrating every minute).
Tulfo explained that online registration for assistance was the priority, but he received complaints that some people do not have cellphones or computers. Despite this, Tulfo asserted that people will be processed but they need to wait as DSWD adjusts its processes.
Tulfo highlighted that this has been an ongoing DSWD program before he announced it.
“Ito yung problema namin sa DSWD, itong educational assistance, every year. Kaso hindi ko malaman kung secret ba, hindi ina-announce… matagal na po ito ‘pag pasukan, may educational assistance,” he said.
(This is our problem in the DSWD; there is educational assistance every year. But I cannot figure out if this was a secret or if it just was not announced… educational assistance happens every opening of classes).
The DSWD Secretary also said that he considered distributing the assistance on the barangay level but received feedback that they would prefer to get it straight from the social welfare department.
“Mas gusto sa DSWD naman daw, para walang pinipili, hindi inuuna,” he said.
(They prefer getting it from DSWD so there is no favoritism).
Tulfo also said that the DSWD might hand over the distribution of the cash assistance to the municipality level.
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