DSWD vows continuous aid services amid 4-day work week

Even as government agencies began observing a four-day work week, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Monday assured the public of the continuous delivery of services and assistance for Filipinos in need.

The DSWD gave the assurance after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered government agencies in the executive branch to implement a four-day work week and flexible work arrangements to conserve energy resources amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

“Makakaasa po kayo na hindi maaantala ang mga programa at serbisyo ng aming departamento,” DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao in a statement on Monday.

(You can be assured that the programs and services of our department won’t be affected.)

Following Marcos’ issuance of Memorandum Circular 114 on the four-day work week, Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian issued a memorandum on the implementation of compressed work week (CWW) arrangements in the DSWD and its field offices.

The CWW is an arrangement in which the 40 hours work for five days is compressed in four days, with DSWD personnel rendering 10 hours of work per day.

To ensure the continuous and uninterrupted delivery of service, the following DSWD frontline programs and services will remain open and operational for the entire week:

• Disaster Response Command Center (DRCC);
• Crisis Intervention Program/Units;
• Pag-abot Program;
• Minors Traveling Abroad (MTA);
• Walang Gutom Program, including Walang Gutom Kitchen; and
• Centers and residential care facilities (CRCFs).

All provincial, city, and municipal staff of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) are also exempted from the four-day work week.

In case of disasters, all DSWD personnel under the Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) will be on standby for onsite operations.

“Ang lahat po ng aming opisina na nagbibigay ng agarang tulong ay bukas pa rin limang araw sa isang linggo. Kasama dito ang aming DRCC na nagmo-monitor ng sama ng panahon at iba pang kalamidad, satellite offices na nagpoproseso ng Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS), pag-reach out sa mga families in street situations, pagkuha ng minors traveling abroad clearance, ang ating Walang Gutom Program at Kitchen, at ang lahat ng CRCFs ng DSWD,” Dumlao said.

(All of our offices that extend immediate assistance are still open five days a week. This includes our DRCC that monitors inclement weather and other calamities, satellite offices that process Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations applications, reaching out to families in street situations, processing clearances for minors traveling abroad, the Walang Gutom Program and Kitchen, and all CRCFs of the DSWD.) — JMA, GMA Integrated News