DSWD chief defends budget

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Monday explained various points before the Senate Finance Sub-Committee chaired by Senator Imee Marcos during the second Senate deliberation of the agency's 2025 proposed budget, including the accommodation they provided to all requests for assistance from the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

"We can furnish you the screenshots but we have to ask permission of Director Norman if he will also consent," Gatchalian said, referring to requests for assistance from the OVP and an exchange of text messages between the point persons of the two agencies would prove it.

Gatchalian made the remark when asked about Vice President Sara Duterte's earlier claim that the agency is politicizing the government's assistance program.

He added that their investigation showed that both the point persons of the DSWD and the OVP could not identify any specific instance to support Duterte's allegation.

"With me is Assistant Secretary Ulysses Aguilar, he's the one that handles the referrals from the Office of the Vice President. He immediately talked to the handling officer of the OVP, Director Norman. We asked him what the issue was so we could look into it," the DSWD Chief said.

"He told us that he has no idea because all of their referrals were accommodated by the DSWD," Gatchalian said.

He even mentioned that a plaque of recognition from the OVP has given to the DSWD, which, he said, acknowledged them as a "valued partner."

"We'll also submit to the committee a copy of a plaque that we just received, middle part of this year from the OVP saying that we are a valued partner, that we would always help their referrals," said the DSWD chief.

Meantime, the lady senator – who also chairs the subcommittee and the one who raised the issue -- said they will put that on record "to put the matter at rest and be clarified with the concern."

The subcommittee's approval of the DSWD budget and its attached agencies' proposed P229.8 billion budget for 2025, has been deferred pending the agency's submission of reports on other issues.

Gatchalian was joined by members of the Department’s executive and management committees, as well as the heads of attached and supervised agencies.

After the budget hearing, the DSWD chief answered some queries from reporters, explaining the agency's guidelines and policies on existing programs and services, as well as the validation process for eligible beneficiaries.