Soliman rides high on high DSWD sincerity rating

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) got a net sincerity rating of “very good” in its anticorruption efforts based on a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations last year.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said the DSWD received a rating of 52+ in the survey conducted from July 31 to Nov. 29 last year.

The survey used face-to-face interviews of executives of 951 enterprises in the National Capital Region, Metro Angeles, Cavite, Laguna and Batangas province; and Metro Iloilo, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities.

It was the first time the DSWD was included in the survey.

Soliman attributed the DSWD’s positive performance to the strict implementation of the department’s Integrity Development Action Plan (Idap).

‘Very good’

“The department’s ‘very good’ rating shows that despite the series of disasters which struck our country in the second half of 2013, we managed to consistently implement the Idap measures ensuring the integrity of our regular operations,” Soliman said.

The Idap contains measures ensuring that the principles of integrity, accountability and transparency are practiced in the department.

Late last year, the Idap was replaced by the Integrity Management Program (IMP) in accordance with the daang matuwid (straight path) and transparent government policy of President Aquino.

The DSWD was among the national government agencies chosen for the pilot implementation of IMP.

Compliant agency

Soliman also said the DSWD has consistently ranked either first or second among the most compliant agencies in the implementation of anticorruption measures.

“It’s just a matter of continuing what we have been doing as well as adopting new strategies to further strengthen our efforts,” she said.

In another development, the DSWD remained on alert to augment the relief resources of local government units (LGUs) in meeting the needs of families displaced by Tropical Depression Agaton in Mindanao.

Soliman said the DSWD had distributed 62,022 family food packs worth P15.5 million to affected LGUs in the Davao Region while 14,912 food packs amounting to P4 million have been given to the Caraga Region.

An additional 5,000 family food packs will be delivered anytime to San Francisco, Esperanza, Rosario and Bayugan City in Agusan del Sur, she said.

The DSWD Central Office has also released another P10 million of its standby funds to its field office in Caraga for the purchase of more emergency relief supplies.

As of Wednesday, 408 evacuation centers in the affected areas were still open to provide temporary shelter to 35,122 families, or 160,629 individuals.

Another 47,708 families composed of 293,288 individuals were reported still staying with their relatives or friends, the DSWD said.