The number of individuals in street situations assisted through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Pag-Abot Program is now 2,078.

These individuals who were once living and staying on the streets across Metro Manila have been provided assistance under the program as of March 15, the DSWD said on Friday, 22 March.

“Since April 24, 2023, the Pag-abot Program has reached out to 1,276 family members, and 802 unattached individuals, including children and senior citizens,” DSWD Assistant Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group Irene B. Dumlao said.

“The program has indeed expanded after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. institutionalized it, gaining a significant impact on its overall implementation and operations,” Dumlao, who is also the agency’s co-spokesperson, said.

On 18 January, Malacañang issued Executive Order (EO) No. 52, institutionalizing and expanding the agency’s Oplan Pag-Abot, which aims to reach out to families, children, and individuals in street situations and provide them with necessary interventions.

Under EO 52, an inter-agency committee, headed by DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, and vice-chaired by Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr., was formed to expand the provision of services and assistance to the Pag-abot Program’s target beneficiaries.

Assistant Secretary Dumlao noted the move to institutionalize the program has ensured the effective delivery of services to disadvantaged and vulnerable individuals living on the streets.

“Current efforts of DSWD’s Pag-Abot team are complemented by concerned agencies, so we were able to profile and encourage more individuals to be reached out,” she said.

Through the Pag-Abot Program, the reached-out individuals who used to live on the streets are provided with various interventions, including medical help, food aid, transportation assistance, livelihood opportunities, transitory family support packages, and emergency financial and transitory shelter assistance.

The DSWD provides the reached-out individuals with cash aid through the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) program, reintegrates them into their respective provinces and refers them to agency-run Centers and Residential Care Facilities for temporary shelter depending on their case.

Beneficiaries are also endorsed to their respective local government units for appropriate assistance.