MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, Jan. 15 (PIA) --- Starting this
January, the regional Department for Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-ARMM)
will begin the implementation of its Apat Dapat program as part of its efforts
to combat poverty in the region.
The program’s pilot run is set to
last until December 2016 and will cater to the 40 poorest families in 15 select
ARMM municipalities.
The program will supplement the ongoing
poverty alleviation initiatives both of the regional and national government.
It will follow the ‘four for the poor formula,’ which zeroes in on the four
most basic needs of a family, namely food, water, light, and shelter.
The four basic needs were determined by a study regarding
poverty incidence in the region, conducted by the Regional Planning and
Development Office (RPDO).
Major
interventions include ensuring families are housed in secure homes with its own
water and sanitation system and a basic lighting facility, while providing them
with the means to expand their livelihood and achieve food sufficiency along
the way.
“Combating
poverty has two phases, the long-term and the short-term. While the Apat Dapat
program is initially a short-term program, gradually we’re expecting that we’ll
earn the necessary experience and milestones for the continuity and expansion
of the program into a long-term solution to poverty,” DSWD-ARMM Secretary
Rahima Alba said.
To
ensure that the program will meet its goals, the DSWD will oversee the conduct
of case management of every household. It also hopes to coordinate with the
Department of Health’s rural health units and its nutritionists in monitoring
the health.
There
will be 15 pilot municipalities – three municipalities in every province of the
ARMM – with forty family beneficiaries in every municipality.
The
pilot municipalities are Matanog, Barira and Datu Anggal Midtimbang in Maguindanao;
Balindong, Lumba-Bayabao, and Taraka in Lanao del Sur; Tuburan, Tipu-tipo, and
Sumisip in Basilan; Talipao, Parang, and Pandami in Sulu; and Tandubas,
Simunul, and Sibutu in Tawi-tawi. (BPI/APB/PIA-10)
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