MindanaoToday.com | Hundreds seek aid in a single day in Normin
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Every day, about a thousand residents of Northern Mindanao region find themselves in dire circumstances, prompting them to seek for Assistance for Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) from the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 10 (DSWD-10).
DSWD-10 Regional Director Ramel Jamen during the “Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas” forum under the auspices of the Philippine Information Agency-10 on Tuesday, June 11, reported that they had given medical, burial, and financial assistance to 494,084 individuals, amounting to P2.993 billion in the past 17 months under the AICS.
These figures, he said, include beneficiaries from Lanao del Sur and Marawi City which, under special arrangement, are being served by DSWD-10 although these local governments are within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The DSWD-10 field office based in this city has been serving an average of 200 clients, most of them seeking medical and burial assistance, Assistant Regional Director for Operations Ronald Ryan Cui said, and that screening is based on AICS guidelines, one of which is the exclusion of those under their “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino” Program (4Ps).
Cui said they make sure there are no duplication of AICS beneficiaries and that one client can avail of assistance only once in three months and that the diagnosis of the disease, based on a medical abstract, must be different from the previous one.
Mark Anthony Viernes, who heads DSWD-10’s Crisis Intervention Section, said AICS are also processed and granted to beneficiaries in 13 satellite offices, and nine medical centers. The daily average number of clients could reach a thousand, including the estimated 200 individuals being served at the DSWD regional field office.
Citing Jamen’s multi-media presentation earlier, when Client-based Localized Online Service for Excellent Result (CLOSER) AICS was mentioned, Viernes said they have partnered, so far, with three local governments and 10 hospitals since December 2023.
The three local governments are the City of El Salvador and the municipalities of Balingasag, Misamis Oriental and of Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon.
DSWD-10 has also partnered with Misamis Oriental Provincial Hospitals in Alubijid, Balingasag, Claveria, Gingoog, Initao, Magsaysay, Manticao, and Talisayan; and privately-owned Capitol University Medical Center, and the Maria Reyna-Xavier University Hospital, both operating in Cagayan de Oro.
Viernes said AICS clients need not personally transact at the DSWD Field Office 10 or in their satellite offices because documents may be transmitted electronically to them through their partner local governments and hospitals and these would be assessed and processed. (MT)
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