Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 7) — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will launch an improved rescue program for street dwellers next month.
\”We haven’t stopped our reach out operations, but part of the things that we want to do is to intensify our reach out efforts,\” DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said in a media forum.
\”In the next couple of weeks, we are working with the LGUs (local government units) already to make sure na complementary yung effort namin [our efforts will complement each other] in expanding our reach out effort to our families in street situation,\” he added.
According to Gatchalian, the rescue program will now be permanent and will follow a \”rights-based\” approach.
\”Hindi lang siya [It won’t be just] seasonal, it’s going to be a mainstay program of the department,\” he noted.
\”Hindi pwedeng marahas ang paggamit, hindi pwedeng police [There should be no violence, and police should not be involved],\” the secretary stressed. \”We are now recruiting more social workers.\”
The DSWD said it will procure more buses and it will look for transition housing for rescued individuals.
Social workers will also wear body cameras during rescue missions, it added.
