Viral ‘sewer girl’ gets store capital from DSWD
Jerome, her partner, will also be brought to us for potential training, as he is skilled in welding.
Jerome, her partner, will also be brought to us for potential training, as he is skilled in welding.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian met with Rose — the woman whose emergence from a Makati City sewer went viral — to offer government assistance.
During the meeting at the DSWD’s Pag-abot Center in Pasay City, the DSWD chief announced that Rose will receive P80,000 in livelihood assistance to establish a “sari-sari” store, her preferred entrepreneurial project.
“Our intervention for Rose is to help her achieve her dream of having a store, which our social worker’s assessment indicates she is capable of managing,” he said.
Rose, who was brought to the DSWD Pag-abot Processing Center for evaluation, explained that she entered the sewer to retrieve a small blade cutter, essential for her work collecting and selling recyclable garbage.
Gatchalian also said the DSWD will explore ways to assist Rose’s partner, Jerome.
“Jerome, her partner, will also be brought to us for potential training, as he is skilled in welding. We may assist him in purchasing a welding machine to stabilize their combined income,” the DSWD chief said.
He also stressed that assisting Rose and other families and individuals in street situations (FISS) is a directive from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
“The DSWD has been tasked by our President to ensure that our citizens living on the streets are sheltered here in our Pag-abot Center,” he added.
The Pag-abot Center, operational since 2023, provides temporary shelter and facilitates the return of FISS to their hometowns with various interventions under the Pag-abot Program.
He said Rose has committed to assisting the program by joining Pag-abot outreach operations to encourage other street dwellers to seek assistance at the center.
“Rose will help us convince others in similar situations to come to the Pag-abot shelter for assistance,” said the Social Welfare secretary.
