DSWD to give aid to families of slain SAF commandos

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Social Welfare and Development will be extending help to the kin of the 44 Special Action Force commandos recently killed in an encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said her agency received a list of the fallen policemen and that she was instructed by President Aquino to provide assistance to the bereaved families.

“We will begin contacting the families and extend the government’s help to them, especially that they lost an earner … We extend our sympathies and condolences to our fallen SAF policemen,” she said on Thursday during the DSWD’s 64th anniversary celebration in Quezon City.

In particular, the agency will offer psychosocial counseling to the policemen’s families, as well as educational and livelihood support.

Other forms of aid will be given to the families, which will be determined by the outcome of the counseling sessions.

Soliman added the agency provided P25,000 in assistance each to the families of two civilians killed in the clash among the SAF, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

This is apart from the P10,000 assistance each to the two wounded civilians, who are still recuperating in the hospital.

Since Monday, the DSWD has given more than 600 food packs to the displaced residents in Mamasapano who are staying at an evacuation center in the area.